Screening of Year 1 students in South Australia’s public schools in 2024 has shown 7 out of every 10 students either have appropriate or above average phonics skills for their age – meaning their literacy skills are on track.

Phonics screening is an important check that was introduced in 2017 to ensure that any issues with a child’s literacy are identified as early as possible in their education journey – allowing for targeted support for those who might be falling behind.

The screening, which is carried out in a quiet room one-on-one with the student, involves the teacher asking the student to read 40 words aloud.

It is generally expected a year 1 student should be able to decode 28 out of 40 words in the check, however, this is not a pass/fail mark, rather an indication of the score a student might achieve if their phonics learning is progressing as expected.

The check is intended to identify those students who need further support in their phonics learning, helping teachers to know where to focus.

In 2024, phonics screening check state-wide results have remained stable, with 70% of participating students scoring at or above the expected achievement.

Overall, there has been a cumulative improvement of 27 percentage points from 2018 when only 43% of students were able to correctly decode 28 words or more.

Department for Education Chief Executive Professor Martin Westwell said we are pleased to see that such a significant proportion of our Year 1 learners are on track with their literacy skills, which is a key attribute in their lifelong learning journey.

“Phonics screening is an invaluable tool to help teachers identify those students who might need additional support to get to the level of literacy required to support their education”.

“It’s not a case of passing or failing the screening test, but rather it produces a range of outcomes, which is valuable information to support the future learning of these students.”

This year, the screening check collected data from more than 11,800 year 1 students enrolled across 420 schools.

The check, which takes 5 to 7 minutes to complete, shows teachers how their students are progressing in phonics (the relationship between letters and sounds developed when learning to read).

The phonics screening check is completed state-wide in term 3 each year. This allows year 1 students enough time to develop phonics skills during the year, while still being early enough to implement effective support for students who need it.

More information on the phonics screening check can be found on the Department website.