Free home check · about 5 minutes

Phonics skill check

Your child reads short lists of real and made-up words, from single letter sounds up to two-syllable words. You tap right or wrong for each one. The check stops at the first pattern that's clearly not there yet and shows you what to practise.

Sit side by side, then start

Your child reads; you tap Right or Not yet. Don't help during the check. It goes list by list — letter sounds, short-vowel words (cvc), digraphs (sh, ch, th, ck), consonant blends (st, fl, cr, -nd…), silent e (a_e, i_e, o_e, u_e), vowel teams (ai, ay, ee, oa, igh), r-controlled vowels (ar, or, er, ir, ur), two-syllable words — and stops by itself when a list is clearly too hard.

About 5 minutes · No email needed to see the result

This is not a diagnosis

This is an informal home check we designed, not a validated assessment. It gives no percentile, grade level or age equivalent, and it can't identify dyslexia or any other difficulty. This is not a diagnosis or an assessment, and a reassuring result doesn't rule anything out. Children learn to read on different timelines. If you're worried about your child's reading, talk to your child's teacher.

How to run the check

Sit side by side with the screen where your child can see the word. You hold the device and tap; they just read. It takes about five minutes.

Read the short instructions above each list so you know what counts as right.
Show one word at a time. Let your child sound it out — slow is fine. Tap ✓ if the word came out correctly, ✗ if it didn't.
Don't help or correct during the check. If they're stuck for a few seconds, tap ✗ and move on.
Made-up words are marked as made up, so your child knows not to look for a meaning. The small grey hint is for you — it shows how the word should sound.
The check stops by itself when a list is clearly too hard. You can keep going if you want to see more.

Why made-up words?

A child can recognise a familiar word by memory or by guessing from its shape. They can't do that with a word they've never seen. If your child can read "vop" or "fendip", they're actually decoding — turning letters into sounds and blending them — which is the skill every later reading skill rests on.

If your child reads the real words but stumbles on the made-up ones in the same list, that's useful to know: it often means they've memorised some words without having the pattern yet.

Why the lists are in this order

The lists follow the order most phonics programmes teach in: single letter sounds, then short-vowel words, then letter pairs that make one sound, then blends, then the long-vowel patterns (silent e and vowel teams), then vowels changed by r, then longer words. Each step uses the ones before it, which is why the check stops at the first pattern that isn't there yet — the later lists would just be guessing.

Every word in a list follows that list's pattern. Common words that break the rules — said, was, have, come — are deliberately left out; they're taught separately as tricky words.

What the result means — and what it doesn't

The result is the first pattern that wasn't secure on the day. That's the place to practise next. It isn't a reading level, a grade or an age equivalent, and this check hasn't been validated against any test — it's a structured way to listen to your child read.

Children have off days. If a result surprises you, run it again another day. If decoding keeps breaking down at the same early step, mention it to your child's teacher and ask what their school screening shows.

Frequently asked questions

What age is this phonics check for?

Any child who is learning to read — roughly ages 4 to 9 — or an older child who is still struggling to sound words out. Younger children will often stop at letter sounds or short-vowel words, which is expected.

Is this a dyslexia test?

No. It can't identify dyslexia or any other difficulty. Trouble reading made-up words is one of the things specialists look at, which is why it's in here — but only a qualified evaluator can assess a reading difficulty. If you're concerned, talk to your child's teacher or school.

My child got the real words but not the made-up ones. What does that mean?

It usually means they know some words by sight but don't yet have the pattern itself. Practise the pattern with both real and made-up words until the made-up ones are easy too.

Should I correct my child during the check?

Not during the check — just tap right or wrong and move on, so the result reflects what they can do on their own. Correct and practise afterwards, using the activities in the result.

How often should I re-check?

After a few weeks of daily practice on the pattern it flagged. Re-checking every day mostly measures memory of the word lists.

How the result is worked out

Our own rule for an informal check, not a published cut-off: a skill counts as secure at 80% or more right (8 of 10 letters, 7 of 8 words), shaky from 50% to 79%, and not yet below 50%. The check stops at the first not-yet skill; the result is the first skill that isn't secure.