Free, with no sign-up. Facts checked on 16 October 2026 against the NSW Department of Education pages listed at the foot.
Every Year 1 child in a NSW public school reads 40 words aloud to their teacher in Term 3: 20 real words and 20 made-up ones. This page gives you a practice run of the same shape, built from Learnest's own words, and tells you which patterns to practise next.
Term 3, Weeks 4 to 6, in every NSW public school. Each Year 1 child is checked by their own teacher.
How
One to one. Your child sits with the teacher and reads 40 words aloud. It takes about five to seven minutes, and if a child is struggling the teacher stops.
The words
20 real words and 20 made-up words. A made-up word shows whether a child can blend the sounds in a word they have never seen, instead of remembering a word they know.
What it is for
The department says the check tells the teacher how your child is going in phonics so they can plan what to teach next, and that it is designed not to be stressful. It is a check, not a test to pass. The department's research reports describe an expected level of 28 or more of the 40 words.
What you hear
The department's pages do not set out a results letter for parents. Its 2020 trial report mentions a parent feedback summary teachers can produce. If you want to know how your child went, ask the teacher.
From the NSW Department of Education pages at the foot, in Learnest's own words. The department does not publish the check's words, and this page uses none of them.
How to use this practice
Sit beside your child with the phone or tablet between you, the way the teacher does.
Your child reads each word aloud. One word shows at a time, large. Give them time to sound it out.
You tap.Read it right if they said the word, Not yet if not. Do not correct them mid-run; keep it light.
A creature beside a word means it is made up. Tell your child the word is the creature's name, so they sound it out instead of guessing a real word.
Stop any time. The result shows each section, each pattern, and two things to try at home for the patterns that need practice.
The run is in two sections like the check: simpler patterns first, then harder ones. Want paper instead? The printable sheet below has the same words and a marking grid.
The practice: 40 words
Set nsw: this address gives the same 40 words every time, so you can share it or come back to it. New set of words. Make it 20 words.
Word 1 of 40
0 of 40 read right
The run stopped early, so the counts cover the words shown.
By section and by pattern
Pattern
Read right
Section 1: simpler patterns
0 of 0
Short vowel words
0 of 0
Consonant digraphs
0 of 0
Blends
0 of 0
Vowel digraphs, first set
0 of 0
Section 2: harder patterns
0 of 0
Vowel digraphs, second set
0 of 0
Split digraphs
0 of 0
Longer blends
0 of 0
Two-syllable words
0 of 0
Patterns to practise next
Every word was read right. Try a new set of words next week, and the harder section again.
Short vowel words (like cat and pin):
Say a word in sounds, c-a-t, and ask your child to say the word. Then swap over: they say the sounds and you blend them.
Write a word on paper and change one letter at a time: cat, cot, cog, dog. Read each new word together.
Consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th, ng and ck):
Make a card for each of sh, ch, th, ng and ck. Hold one up and ask your child for a word that has that sound in it.
Hunt for the two-letter sounds on a cereal box or a street sign, and read the word they sit in.
Blends (like frog and milk):
Say frog slowly, f-r-o-g, with a finger tap for each sound, then push the taps together into the word.
Build words with magnet letters: add a letter to the front of lip to make slip, flip and clip, and read each one.
Vowel digraphs, first set (letter teams ee, oo, ar, or, ai and oa):
Write ee, oo, ar, or, ai and oa on six cards. Say a word, such as moon, and ask your child to point to its vowel team.
Read a list of words that share one team, rain, train, chain and paint, and ask which part sounds the same in each.
Vowel digraphs, second set (letter teams igh, ow, oi, ur, ir, ear and air):
Make a word sort with three columns, igh, ow and oi, and sort ten words into them together, saying each one.
Pick one team a day and find it in a book you read together. Say its sound each time it appears.
Split digraphs (a-e, i-e, o-e and u-e):
Write cap on a card and e on another. Slide the e in and out: cap, cape; kit, kite. Say both words each time.
Tell your child the e at the end is quiet but makes the vowel say its name. Ask them to test it on hop and hope, cub and cube.
Longer blends (like crisp and spring):
Say a word in sounds with a tap for each one: s-t-r-a-p is five taps. Count them, then blend them.
Add one sound at a time and read each step: tap, trap, strap; tip, trip, strip.
Two-syllable words (like rabbit and sunset):
Clap the two parts, rab-bit, sun-set. Cover the second half with a finger, read the first half, then uncover the rest.
Read a two-part word and ask your child to find the small word or chunk inside it, such as sun in sunset.
Forty words at home point to a pattern; they do not predict the check. Your child's teacher sees far more than this page can.
Print this page, then sit with your child and tick each word they read right. A creature marks a made-up word.
Section 1: simpler patterns
1cat
2kovmade-up word
3hut
4zunmade-up word
5web
6peshmade-up word
7fish
8shibmade-up word
9sock
10vothmade-up word
11grin
12trobmade-up word
13grip
14zoltmade-up word
15stop
16veegmade-up word
17torch
18zaifmade-up word
19meet
20jorfmade-up word
Section 2: harder patterns
21ear
22zearbmade-up word
23light
24jurvmade-up word
25coin
26blibemade-up word
27hope
28vafemade-up word
29cube
30drafemade-up word
31frost
32clendmade-up word
33splat
34droskmade-up word
35strip
36zenlubmade-up word
37bucket
38fenvubmade-up word
39magnet
40jumvelmade-up word
Marking by pattern
Pattern
Words
Read right
Short vowel words
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
___ of 5
Consonant digraphs
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
___ of 5
Blends
11, 12, 13, 14, 15
___ of 5
Vowel digraphs, first set
16, 17, 18, 19, 20
___ of 5
Vowel digraphs, second set
21, 22, 23, 24, 25
___ of 5
Split digraphs
26, 27, 28, 29, 30
___ of 5
Longer blends
31, 32, 33, 34, 35
___ of 5
Two-syllable words
36, 37, 38, 39, 40
___ of 5
A pattern with a word your child did not read is one to practise. Two things to try for each are under Practise a pattern at home.
Practise a pattern at home
Two short things to try for each pattern, five minutes at a time. No worksheets needed.
Short vowel words (like cat and pin)
Say a word in sounds, c-a-t, and ask your child to say the word. Then swap over: they say the sounds and you blend them.
Write a word on paper and change one letter at a time: cat, cot, cog, dog. Read each new word together.
Consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th, ng and ck)
Make a card for each of sh, ch, th, ng and ck. Hold one up and ask your child for a word that has that sound in it.
Hunt for the two-letter sounds on a cereal box or a street sign, and read the word they sit in.
Blends (like frog and milk)
Say frog slowly, f-r-o-g, with a finger tap for each sound, then push the taps together into the word.
Build words with magnet letters: add a letter to the front of lip to make slip, flip and clip, and read each one.
Vowel digraphs, first set (letter teams ee, oo, ar, or, ai and oa)
Write ee, oo, ar, or, ai and oa on six cards. Say a word, such as moon, and ask your child to point to its vowel team.
Read a list of words that share one team, rain, train, chain and paint, and ask which part sounds the same in each.
Vowel digraphs, second set (letter teams igh, ow, oi, ur, ir, ear and air)
Make a word sort with three columns, igh, ow and oi, and sort ten words into them together, saying each one.
Pick one team a day and find it in a book you read together. Say its sound each time it appears.
Split digraphs (a-e, i-e, o-e and u-e)
Write cap on a card and e on another. Slide the e in and out: cap, cape; kit, kite. Say both words each time.
Tell your child the e at the end is quiet but makes the vowel say its name. Ask them to test it on hop and hope, cub and cube.
Longer blends (like crisp and spring)
Say a word in sounds with a tap for each one: s-t-r-a-p is five taps. Count them, then blend them.
Add one sound at a time and read each step: tap, trap, strap; tip, trip, strip.
Two-syllable words (like rabbit and sunset)
Clap the two parts, rab-bit, sun-set. Cover the second half with a finger, read the first half, then uncover the rest.
Read a two-part word and ask your child to find the small word or chunk inside it, such as sun in sunset.
How Learnest teaches phonics
Learnest's Kindergarten and Years 1 and 2 English days are built on phonics. The first day is a short placement check that finds which letter sounds and patterns your child's school has taught, and the app starts there instead of at a fixed page. The app reads each question aloud, your child reads the word or taps the picture, and you sit beside them and tap for anything they say out loud, as you did here. A pattern that slips comes back in later sessions until it holds, and the email that night names it. About twelve to fifteen minutes a day, maths and science included, and every word is Learnest's own.
14 days free, then A$10 a month for one child and A$5 for each extra child. You add a card today and pay A$0. Cancel online before day 14 and you pay nothing.
When is the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check in NSW?
In Term 3, Weeks 4 to 6, in every NSW public school. Your child's teacher sits with them one to one, and the check takes about five to seven minutes. If a child is struggling, the teacher stops the check.
What is in the phonics check?
40 words read aloud: 20 real words and 20 made-up words. The made-up words show whether a child can blend the sounds in a word they have never seen, instead of remembering a word they know. The department does not publish the words, and this page uses none of them.
Can my child fail the phonics check?
No. The NSW Department of Education says its main purpose is to give your child's teacher information to plan their learning, and that the check is designed not to be stressful. The department's research reports describe an expected level of 28 or more of the 40 words. To hear how your child went, ask the teacher.
Sources
Checked 16 October 2026. Every fact about the check above comes from these pages. If one of them has changed since, it is right and this page is behind.
Learnest is not affiliated with ACARA, NESA, the NSW Department of Education or the Australian Maths Trust. This page explains the published facts in Learnest's own words and uses none of the department's words or items; the official pages above are the record.