What does the Year 1 Phonics Check assess? slide outlines

1. What does the Year 1 Phonics Check assess? 

Word-level decoding ability 

• Pseudo and real words 
• Simple and complex words 

[Image: cards showing a selection of simple, complex, simple pseudo and complex pseudo words from the Phonics Check, namely: lig, mep, gax, emp (simple pseudo words); chin, deck, horn, queen (simple real words); glips, floost, splam, stribe (complex pseudo words); arrow, forest, wishing,  brighter (complex real words).] 

2. What does the Year 1 Phonics Check assess? 

Section 1: Simple pseudo words and simple real words 

• single letter–sound correspondences 
• early consonant and vowel digraphs 

[Image for Section 1 shows cards for ‘lig’ and ‘chin’.] 

Section 2: Complex pseudo words and complex real words 

• some two-syllable words 
• alternative spellings 
• less-frequent digraphs 
• split digraphs and trigraphs 
• morphology 

[Image for Section 2 shows cards for ‘jigh’ and ‘wishing’.] 

3. What can Year 1 Phonics Check data tell us? 

Does a student have: 

• letter–sound correspondence knowledge  

+  

• blending skills. 

[Image: card for the pseudo word ‘shope’, with font colour identifying the split digraph o_e.] 

4. What can the Year 1 Phonics Check data tell us? 

• Whole word reading versus decoding 
• Inclusion of pseudo words 

[Image: example shows a card with the word ‘mep’ with a cross indicating it has been decoded incorrectly, and a card with the word ‘forest’, with a tick indicating it has been decoded correctly.] 

5. What can the Year 1 Phonics Check data tell us? 

Score indicators on the Year 1 Phonics Check 

Fluent decoders [colour-coded green]; Score 28-40 

Most or all: 

• Simple and complex words 
• Real and pseudo words 

Developing decoders [colour-coded yellow]; Score 20-27 

Most: 

• Simple real words 
• Simple pseudo words 

Struggling decoders [colour-coded red]; Score: 0-19 

Challenges in: 

• Simple real words 
• Simple pseudo words 

6. What can the Year 1 Phonics Check data tell us? 

Phonics Check Year 1 

Word and code complexity continuum 

[Image: the continuum shows a series of 10 steps, which move from simplest phonics skills to most advanced. Words from the Phonics Check are placed beneath each step, depending on their word type. Pseudo words are underlined; words that appear in more than more category have an asterisk. 

• Step 1: CVC words. Phonics Check words: lig, mep, gax. 
• Step 2: Simple words with adjacent consonants (VCC, CVCC, CCVC). Phonics Check words: frex, tram, self, emp, haps. 
• Step 3: Consonant digraphs. Phonics Check words: beff, shup, criff, deck, phope*, queen*, chin, press, charb*. 
• Step 4: Split vowel digraphs (CVCe). Phonics Check words: phope*, stribe*, wove, stroke*. 
• Step 5: Complex words with adjacent consonants. Phonics Check words: stroke*, scram, drank, splam, stribe*, glips, floost*. 
• Step 6: Vowel digraphs. Phonics Check words: doil, woats, queen*, floost*, haunt, treats*, arrow*, keeps*. 
• Step 7: Trigraphs. Phonics Check words: stair, jigh. 
• Step 8: Morphology. Phonics Check words: lied, treats*, keeps*, wishing*, brighter*. 
• Step 9: R-controlled vowels. Phonics Check words: charb*, rird, horn, barst. 
• Step 10: Multiple syllables. Phonics Check words: arrow*, forest, brighter*, wishing*.] 

7. What can Year 1 Phonics Check data tell us? 

[Image: sequence of 10 boxes showing the steps of the word and code continuum, each with one example word. From left to right the sequence is: 

• CVC words. Example: hat. 
• Simple words with adjacent consonants (VCC, CVCC, CCVC). Example: flop. 
• Consonant digraphs. Example: chip. 
• Split vowel digraphs. Example: gate. 
• Complex words with adjacent consonants. Example: splint. 
• Vowel digraphs. Example: tail. 
• Trigraphs. Example: light.  
• Morphology. Example: floats. 
• R-controlled vowels. Example: spark. 
• Multiple syllables. Example: computer.]