You don’t need a formal test to know where your child is in phonics. A quick 10-minute assessment at home gives you a clear picture of what’s solid, what’s shaky, and exactly where to focus next. This checklist follows the same progression UK and Australian schools use for their Year 1 Phonics Screening Check.
What you need
- This checklist (printable version below)
- A quiet spot, 10 minutes, no distractions
- Paper and pencil to mark correct (✓) / incorrect (✗) / hesitated (/)
Download the 6-Level Phonics Screener (Free PDF) — every test word from all 6 levels below, with a checkbox to mark each one and the scoring guide built right in. No email required.
Level 1 — Single letter sounds (26 letters)
Point to each letter and ask your child to say its sound, not its name. Use lower-case letters.
Letters to test: s, a, t, p, i, n, m, d, g, o, c, k, e, u, r, h, b, f, l, j, v, w, x, y, z, q
- 24–26 correct: Single letters are solid. Move to Level 2.
- Below 24: Spend another 2–3 weeks on the missed letters before progressing.
Level 2 — CVC decoding (reading 3-letter words)
Write these words on paper — one at a time. Ask your child to blend the sounds and say the word. Don’t help with individual sounds.
Test words:
- 8–10 correct: CVC blending is solid.
- 4–7 correct: Blending is emerging — needs daily practice with the CVC word list.
- Below 4: Letter sounds may not be automatic yet. Return to Level 1.
Level 3 — Digraphs (2 letters, 1 sound)
Test words:
- 8–10 correct: Digraphs are solid.
- Below 8: Work through the 6-week digraph plan.
Level 4 — Consonant blends
Test words:
- 8–10 correct: Blends are solid.
- Below 8: Drill the consonant blends list — one column per week.
Level 5 — Long vowels (magic-e + vowel teams)
Test words (magic-e): cake, bike, home, cube, tune
Test words (vowel teams): rain, feet, boat, blue, play
- 8–10 correct: Long vowels are solid. Ready for multi-syllable words.
- Below 8: Start with magic-e, then vowel teams.
Level 6 — Pseudo-words (nonsense words)
Pseudo-words test pure decoding — the child can’t recognize them from memory, so they must use phonics. This is exactly what the UK Year 1 Phonics Screening Check uses.
Test pseudo-words:
Tell your child: “These are made-up words — alien words. Sound them out and tell me what they say.”
- 8–10 correct: Phonics generalization is strong — your child is truly decoding, not guessing.
- Below 8: More practice with unfamiliar words. Use Sound Match— it randomizes words so there’s less chance of memorization.
What to do with the results
Find the highest level where your child scored below 80%. That’s your starting point. Spend 5–10 minutes per day on that level until it’s solid, then reassess and move up. Don’t rush ahead — every shaky level will slow down the next one.
See the full phonics stages by age guide to check whether your child’s level is typical for their age.