2018 Phonics Screening Check
Download the 2018 Year 1 Phonics Screening Check materials for free, including the practice materials, assessment materials, answer sheet, scoring guidance, word list, PowerPoint presentation and a complete ZIP file.
The 2018 check was given to all children in Year 1 in England in June 2018. Schools chose a day within the week commencing 11th June 2018, with larger schools spreading the check across several days. It included a mix of real words and pseudo-words.
2018 Phonics Screening Check Past Papers
Below are all the downloads for the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. You can download each resource individually or grab the complete ZIP, which bundles every PDF together with the word list and whole-class PowerPoint presentation published by Exam Ninja.
| Year | Practice Materials | Assessment Materials | Answer Sheet | Scoring Guidance | Spelling Materials | PowerPoint | Complete ZIP File ⓘZip file with all standard resources bundled together | Premium Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2018 Phonics Practice Materialsⓘ 2018 Phonics Screening Test Practice MaterialsThis practice sheet provides example real words and pseudo-words to familiarise children with the format of the Phonics Screening Check. The real words include 'in', 'at', 'beg' and 'sum'. The pseudo-words include 'ot', 'ect', 'osk' and 'vap'. It allows children to practise decoding both word types before taking the statutory assessment. Questions: 8 | 2018 Phonics Assessment Materialsⓘ 2018 Phonics Screening Test Assessment MaterialsThe official pupils' materials from the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. Contains the 40 words children read aloud during the assessment, divided into Section 1 and Section 2. Includes 20 real words (such as sing, dart, chop, shock, gift, flat, turn, twice) and 20 pseudo-words (such as jub, reb, eps, wup, vuss, zook) to assess phonics decoding skills. Questions: 40 | 2018 Phonics Answer Sheetⓘ 2018 Phonics Screening Test Answer SheetThis is the answer sheet used by teachers to record a child's responses during the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. It lists all 40 words split across Section 1 and Section 2, with tick-boxes to mark each word as correct or incorrect. The teacher totals the score at the end to determine whether the child has met the expected standard. Questions: 40 | 2018 Phonics Scoring Guidanceⓘ 2018 Phonics Screening Test Scoring GuidanceThis scoring guidance document from the 2018 Phonics Screening Check lists the acceptable pronunciations for each pseudo-word in both sections. It provides phonemic representations and explains which regional variations are acceptable when teachers mark responses. Examples include reb, wup, blorn, slirt and splote. The guidance ensures consistent marking across different accents. | ||||
| Source: Standards and Testing Agency (STA) | Open Government Licence |
About these 2018 Year 1 Phonics papers
- KS1 Phonics 2018 Phonics Check Practice Materials
- This practice sheet provides example real words and pseudo-words to familiarise children with the format of the Phonics Screening Check. The real words include 'in', 'at', 'beg' and 'sum'. The pseudo-words include 'ot', 'ect', 'osk' and 'vap'. It allows children to practise decoding both word types before taking the statutory assessment.
- KS1 Phonics 2018 Phonics Check Assessment Materials
- The official pupils' materials from the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. Contains the 40 words children read aloud during the assessment, divided into Section 1 and Section 2. Includes 20 real words (such as sing, dart, chop, shock, gift, flat, turn, twice) and 20 pseudo-words (such as jub, reb, eps, wup, vuss, zook) to assess phonics decoding skills.
- KS1 Phonics 2018 Phonics Check Answer Sheet
- This is the answer sheet used by teachers to record a child's responses during the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. It lists all 40 words split across Section 1 and Section 2, with tick-boxes to mark each word as correct or incorrect. The teacher totals the score at the end to determine whether the child has met the expected standard.
- KS1 Phonics 2018 Phonics Check Scoring Guidance
- This scoring guidance document from the 2018 Phonics Screening Check lists the acceptable pronunciations for each pseudo-word in both sections. It provides phonemic representations and explains which regional variations are acceptable when teachers mark responses. Examples include reb, wup, blorn, slirt and splote. The guidance ensures consistent marking across different accents.
2018 Phonics Screening Check Word List
Below are all 40 words used in the 2018 Phonics Screening Check. Each is either a real word or a pseudo-word (a made-up, nonsense word that checks a child's decoding skills rather than their vocabulary).
| Question | Word | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | reb | Pseudo |
| 2 | wup | Pseudo |
| 3 | jub | Pseudo |
| 4 | eps | Pseudo |
| 5 | vuss | Pseudo |
| 6 | quop | Pseudo |
| 7 | zook | Pseudo |
| 8 | chack | Pseudo |
| 9 | skap | Pseudo |
| 10 | blorn | Pseudo |
| 11 | meft | Pseudo |
| 12 | veems | Pseudo |
| 13 | chop | Real |
| 14 | sing | Real |
| 15 | dart | Real |
| 16 | shock | Real |
| 17 | flat | Real |
| 18 | skill | Real |
| 19 | gift | Real |
| 20 | coins | Real |
| 21 | var | Pseudo |
| 22 | slirt | Pseudo |
| 23 | weaf | Pseudo |
| 24 | pobe | Pseudo |
| 25 | flisp | Pseudo |
| 26 | braint | Pseudo |
| 27 | scrid | Pseudo |
| 28 | splote | Pseudo |
| 29 | twice | Real |
| 30 | gloom | Real |
| 31 | turn | Real |
| 32 | mode | Real |
| 33 | blast | Real |
| 34 | groans | Real |
| 35 | spray | Real |
| 36 | strike | Real |
| 37 | delay | Real |
| 38 | modern | Real |
| 39 | saucers | Real |
| 40 | charming | Real |
20 real words, 20 pseudo-words.
2018 Phonics Screening Check Pass Mark & Threshold
The pass mark (threshold) for the 2018 Phonics Screening Check was 32 out of 40. A child needed to read at least 32 of the 40 words correctly to meet the expected standard.
Any child who did not meet the standard retook the check the following year, in Year 2. So children who missed the mark in the 2017 Phonics Screening Check sat this 2018 check in Year 2.
More Phonics Screening Past Papers
| Decade | Years |
|---|---|
| 2020s | 20222023202420252026 |
| 2010s | 20122013201420152016201720182019 |
FAQ
Is the 2018 Phonics Screening Check free to download?
Yes. The full 2018 Phonics Screening Check is free to download. It includes the Pupils' Materials booklet (with words for the child to read aloud) and the Answer Sheet for the teacher.
Where does the 2018 Phonics Screening Check come from?
The Phonics Screening Check is produced annually by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA), part of the Department for Education, and published under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
What was the pass mark for the 2018 Phonics Screening Check?
The pass mark (threshold) for the 2018 Phonics Screening Check was 32 out of 40. Any child who scored below 32 retook the check the following year.
Who sat the 2018 Phonics Screening Check?
Two groups sat the 2018 check: Year 1 children, aged 5 to 6 (born between 1 September 2012 and 31 August 2013); and Year 2 children who did not meet the expected standard in the 2017 check and were retaking it. For how the check works, see the Phonics Screening page.
What happened if my child did not pass the 2018 Phonics Screening Check?
A child who did not meet the expected standard (32 out of 40) in the 2018 check retook it in Year 2, the following year, in 2019.
