At the end of year one, when they are five or six, all children at state schools in England must take a test called the phonics screening check. The check measures their ability to use synthetic ...

Being able to sound out letters in words doesn’t mean you can understand them. There is no clear evidence that a new phonics screening test for children in Year 1 will help improve reading levels.

“It’s been making a big impact from the early years upwards.” The phonics screening test involves teachers showing students 40 words and asking them to pronounce them.

Excelsior Multi-Academy Trust is celebrating a year of exceptional academic outcomes, with 2025 results showing ...

But whether or not the test stays, phonics seems firmly embedded in English schools. “It’s very rare that you get a piece of education practice that you stick with and push over a number of ...

The Olive School’s phonics result – its first ever – vastly exceeds the national average in the 2017 test, where just over 81 per cent of children met expected standards in phonics decoding.