This publication provides the attainment of pupils in the 2025 phonics screening check.
It includes statistics for pupils in schools in England:
Pupils take the phonics screening check at the end of year 1, typically aged 6. Pupils who do not meet the expected standard take the check again at the end of year 2, typically aged 7.
The screening check was not administered in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This publication previously included the results of end of KS1 assessments. These became non-statutory from the 2023/24 academic year onwards. Optional assessments were still offered but the results of these are not collected and statistics will not be published.
All gaps and percentage point differences are calculated from unrounded figures.
In 2024, the methodology for identifying eligible pupils taking the phonics screening check at the end of year 2 changed, and is no longer directly comparable to previous years. This is because the previous methodology used key stage 1 data that is no longer available as the tests are now non-statutory. Please see the methodology for more details and a time series from 2019 using the new methodology to enable recent comparisons.
This does not impact the headline metric of pupils taking the screening check in year 1.
All of the underlying data files associated with this publication are now available in our new API, which allows users to connect to data directly from data manipulation and visualisation tools such as PowerBI, Python and R. View the available data products in the data catalogue or read our API documentation (opens in new tab) (opens in new tab). For instructions of how to connect Excel to the API please see this video (opens in new tab). To help users load the local authority data into Excel, we have included two files in the “Additional supporting files” section below that split the data between year 1 and year 2. From 2025/26 onwards, the data will only be available via the “View or create your your own tables”, the “Data catalogue” or the API.
80%
Unchanged from 2024
67%
Down from 68% in 2024
4 ppt
Up from 3 ppt in 2024
These statistics cover the attainment of year 1 and year 2 pupils who took the phonics screening check in summer 2025.
80% of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1, unchanged from 2024.
89% of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check by the end of year 2, unchanged from 2024.
Disadvantaged pupils performed less well in the phonics screening check than other pupils, and the gap has increased this year by 1 percentage point. 67% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1, down from 68% in 2024.
London is the highest performing region, where 82% of pupils met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1; the lowest performing regions were the North East and North West with 78%. The gap between the highest and lowest attaining region is 4 percentage points.
View tables that we have built for you, or create your own tables from open data using our table tool
Browse and download open data files from this release in our data catalogue
Learn more about the data files used in this release using our online guidance
Download all data available in this release as a compressed ZIP file
All supporting files from this release are listed for individual download below:
Phonics screening check attainment by region and local authority by the end of year 2, 2012 to 2025
Phonics screening check attainment by region and local authority in year 1, 2012 to 2025
About the phonics screening check
The phonics screening check is a statutory assessment for year 1 pupils (typically aged 6) that confirms whether they have met the expected standard in phonic decoding. All state-funded schools with a year 1 cohort must administer the check. Pupils who do not meet the standard in year 1 or were not checked, must take part in the check at the end of year 2 (typically aged 7). Teachers administer the check one-on-one with each pupil and record whether their response to each of the 40 words is correct. Each pupil is awarded a mark between 0 and 40.
In 2025, as in previous years, the threshold to determine whether a pupil had met the expected standard is 32. Since 2014, this threshold mark has not been communicated to schools until after the screening check has been completed, however its year-on-year stability means it is predictable.
In 2025, 80% of pupils met the expected standard in year 1, the same as in 2024. Previously, the proportion of pupils who met the standard in year 1 increased year-on-year from 58% in 2012 to 82% in 2018, remained stable at 82% in 2019, decreased to 75% in 2022, then increased year-on-year to 80% in 2024.
In 2024, the methodology for identifying the year 2 eligible pupils was changed. This is because key stage 1 data is no longer available as the tests are now non-statutory.
From 2024 onwards, data for the year 2 cohort is produced by matching the year 2 phonics results from the current year with the census and year 1 phonics results from the previous year. Pupils are included in the year 2 figures if:
- they have a valid year 2 phonics result from the current year; or
- they have a valid year 1 phonics result from the previous year and they are in the census in year 2.
Up until 2023, pupils were included in the year 2 figures if:
- they had a valid year 2 phonics result from the current year; or
- they had a valid year 1 phonics result from the previous year and they had a valid key stage 1 result in the current year.
This means that 2024 and onwards figures are not comparable to previous years for ‘end of year 2’ measures. This does not impact ‘year 1’ measures. Please see the methodology for more details and a time series from 2019 using the new methodology to enable recent comparisons.
The percentage of pupils who met the expected standard in the phonics screening check by the end of year 2 was 89% in 2025, the same as in 2024. This is not directly comparable to years before 2024.
Previously, the proportion of pupils who met the expected standard by the end of year 2 had remained broadly stable between 2016 and 2019, then decreased to 87% in 2022 before increasing to 89% in 2023.
This section looks at attainment in year 1 in the phonics screening check by sex, disadvantage, special educational need (SEN) provision, first language, ethnicity and month of birth. Further information is available in the underlying data, including attainment by free school meal eligibility and SEN primary type of need, and attainment in the phonics screening check by the end of year 2.
Attainment in the phonics screening check has decreased for boys, and remained stable for girls. The proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard in year 1 decreased from 77% in 2024 to 76% in 2025 for boys, and remained stable at 84% for girls in 2024 and 2025.
A higher proportion of girls continue to meet the phonics standard in year 1 than boys. The attainment gap is 8 percentage points in 2025, an increase of 1 percentage point from 2024. The attainment gap has remained broadly stable since the check was introduced in 2012, when the gap was 8 percentage points.
Definition of disadvantage
Disadvantaged pupils are those known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM) prior to the assessment in year 1 (i.e. not including nursery or reception).
Please note that the 2025 data is provisional and does not include pupils in the care of the local authority for 1 day or more in the last year unless they were eligible for free school meals during the last 6 years or they have ceased to be looked after in the last year. These statistics will be updated to include these pupils when the final data is published next year. Based on historic data the impact is expected to be negligible (likely to reduce the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard by less than 0.1 percentage points). Further information can be found in the methodology.
Attainment in the phonics screening check has decreased for disadvantaged pupils and remained steady for other pupils. Attainment of the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1 decreased from 68% to 67% for disadvantaged pupils, and remained stable at 84% for other pupils. This gives a gap of 17 percentage points, increased by one percentage point from 2024 (based on unrounded data).
The proportion of eligible year 1 pupils classified as disadvantaged decreased from 24% in 2012 to 19% in 2019, before increasing to 23% in 2022 and remaining stable at 23% in 2023 and 2024. In 2025, 22% of pupils were disadvantaged, though this is not directly comparable as pupils in the care of the local authority have not been added to this yet.
In 2025, 43% of pupils with SEN met the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1, compared with 44% of pupils with SEN in 2024. Among pupils with SEN, 52% of those on SEN support and 20% of those with with an Education, Health and Care plan met the expected standard.
In 2025, 18% of pupils in year 1 had a special educational need (SEN). SEN pupils either have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan or receive SEN support. In 2025, 5% of pupils in year 1 had an EHC plan and 13% were on SEN support.
Attainment in the phonics screening check has decreased compared to 2024 for pupils whose first language is English, and remained stable for those with a first language other than English. Attainment of the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1 decreased from 81% to 80% for pupils whose first language is English, and remained steady at 80% for pupils whose first language is other than English. This gives a gap of 1 percentage points, broadly similar to previous years (based on unrounded data).
The proportion of year 1 pupils with a first language other than English was 22% in 2025, the same as in 2024, but up from 21% in 2023, and 20% in 2019 and 2022.
Attainment in the phonics screening check varies by pupil ethnicity.
In 2025, Chinese pupils were the highest achieving group (91% met the expected standard), followed by Indian pupils (86%), and Mixed White and Asian pupils (86%).
Irish traveller pupils were the lowest performing group (38% met the expected standard), followed by Gypsy pupils (48%).
Attainment in the phonics screening check is higher among pupils born earlier in the academic year (older pupils) than those born later (younger pupils).
As in previous years, pupils born in September were the highest performing group (86% met the expected standard in year 1, the same as in 2024), while pupils born in August were the lowest performing group (73% met the expected standard in year 1, the same as in 2024). The gap between September born children and August born children was 14 percentage points in 2025 a 0.3 percentage point increase from 2024.
Further information is available via the table tool and data files, including attainment by phase and school religious character.
There were 15,865 state-funded mainstream primary schools with year 1 phonics screening check results in 2025.
In recent years there have been substantial changes to the makeup of school types in England. The proportion of LA maintained schools with phonics results decreased from 68% in 2019 to 54% in 2025. There have been corresponding increases in the proportion of sponsored and converter academies to 11% and 33% respectively in 2025. It should be noted that the conversion of schools from one type to another means that the headline figures capture not only change in performance but also change in school type. While the number of free schools with phonics results has increased to 310, free schools make up a very small proportion of schools (2% in the years 2023 to 2025).
Similar to 2024, attainment levels in mainstream academies and free schools as a group in 2025 (81%) is broadly similar to those in local authority maintained mainstream schools (80%).
Among academies, converter academies had a slightly higher proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard (82%) as all state-funded mainstream schools (81%), while sponsored academies had a slightly lower proportion of pupils meeting the expected standard (79%).
This section includes phonics year 1 attainment at regional and local authority level. Further information is available in the underlying data, including phonics year 1 and by the end of year 2 attainment at regional and local authority level by pupil characteristics.
Attainment in the phonics screening check has remained fairly stable in all regions compared to 2024. However, attainment remains below 2019 levels for all regions apart from Yorkshire and the Humber which is the same at 80%.
London was the highest performing region in 2025, as in previous years, with 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard. This was the same as 2024 but down from 84% in 2019.
The lowest performing regions in 2025 were the North East and North West, with 78% of pupils meeting the expected standard. This is down from 79% in 2024, when these were also the lowest performing regions.
The gap between the highest attaining region (London) and the lowest attaining region (North East) was 4 percentage points in 2025, up from 3 percentage points in 2024.
The map below shows the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check in year 1 by local authority. This map shows a complex picture of attainment across England, with a range of high and low attainment in different areas.
Attainment in year 1 in the phonics screening check was highest in Richmond upon Thames (89%) and Wokingham (87%) in 2025. Richmond upon Thames saw an increase in attainment of 1 percentage points compared to 2024, whilst Wokingham maintained the same level of attainment as in 2024. Richmond upon Thames and Wokingham were also the highest performing local authorities in 2023 and 2024.
Attainment was lowest in Manchester (74%) and Rochdale (75%). Manchester maintained the same level of attainment as in 2024, while Rochdale saw a decrease in attainment of 2 percentage points compared to 2024.
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