Phonics Screening Check Guide

The Phonics Screening Check is a statutory assessment for the following pupils;

All pupils in Year 1.
Year 2 pupils retaking the test.

For 2026 DfE guidance on completing the Phonics Screening Check, see here.

This guide outlines the processes involved and covers:

Important Dates
Guide Overview and Instructions
Phonics Screening Check Process

For further information, documentation and links to live training for the Primary Data Collections, see here.

Important Dates

Schools must administer the Phonics Screening Check between Monday 8th June and Friday 12th June 2026.

The pass mark will be made available by the DfE from Monday 22nd June.

Schools must submit their results to the Local Authority by the deadline specified. Usually between Monday 8th June and Friday 17th July.

Guide Overview and Instructions

It is recommended that all users review this guide in its entirety to ensure a complete understanding of the procedures for managing the Phonics Return
The screenshots used in the guide are for illustration purposes only and may differ in a live school’s MIS.

Expand each item for guidance on the Phonics Return in Bromcom.
To print this as a checklist, click ‘Collapse All’ (button on the right), then right-click the page and select ‘Print’
To print this as a full guide, click ‘Expand All‘, then right-click the page and select ‘Print’

Phonics Screening Check Process

Permissions

This section explains how to set the Permissions necessary to follow the steps outlined in this guide.

Navigate to Config > Set Up > Roles and Permissions.

From here, permissions for different roles can be viewed, assigned and modified as required.

From the Roles dropdown list select the required Role and click Edit.

Then from the Module dropdown list choose Assessment.

The panel will refresh to display all menu items within the Assessment Module.

The following permissions will be required;

In the Maintenance menu ensure Access is ticked for Configurations. This enables access to Config>Assessment>Configurations
In the Routines menu ensure Access is ticked for Assessment Sheets List. This enables access to Modules>Assessment>Assessment Sheets List.

Once complete, click Save in the top-left corner

For more information, see How to Edit a Role and its Permissions.

Configuring Stage Assessment Sheets

This section outlines the steps for granting staff the necessary access to view and enter data in the Stage Assessment Sheets.

Example: A school may want to provide access to all Tutors and an Administrator to view and input data into the Stage Assessment Sheets.

Navigate to Config > Assessment > Configurations.

In the Stage Assessment Sheet Configuration panel on the right-hand side, tick Enable Sheet Users to display dynamic roles and individual staff for granting access.

The panel will refresh, after which the relevant roles and/or staff can be selected:

Dynamic Roles – choose from Head of School, Head of Year, Tutor, Deputy Head of School or Deputy Head of Year
Select Individual Users – use the blue magnifying glass to open the Staff selector page and select the members of Staff who are not defined in the Roles but also need access to the Stage Assessment Sheets.
- Alternatively type the Staff name into the box, if selecting a single member of Staff. The selected Staff will appear in the Selection List.
Generate Templates for National Curriculum Year Groups – select the relevant year group for which stage assessment sheets need to be generated

Once complete, click Save in the top-left corner

The Assessment Sheets List

The Assessment Sheets List page in the MIS contains the Stage Assessment Sheets where staff can input the results for the Phonics Return.

There are two pathways to access the Assessment Sheets List:

Admin: via the left-hand toolbar – Modules > Assessment > Assessment Sheets List

Teachers: via the Assessment Widget on the Overview Dashboard

Click the My Dashboard dropdown and select Overview.

Tip: If a Teacher has no timetabled lessons, then the system will automatically open on the Overview Dashboard.

Locate the Assessment Sheets widget and click the More button in the top-right of the panel.

Once the Assessment Sheets List is open, follow the steps below to access the KS1-2026 Stage Assessment Sheets

User Access – if the user has more than one Role allocated to them select the required Role.
Marksheet Type – filter to show Stage Assessment Sheets.
Active On – Any date from 04/04/2026 onwards

Once the relevant filters are applied, the page will refresh to display the Stage Assessment Sheets.

Note: the system will create two types of Stage Assessment Sheets:

Whole Year Group sheets – In the example screenshot below, these are labelled KS1-2026-01 and KS1-2026-02
Individual Tutor Group sheets – In the example screenshot below, these are labelled KS1-2026-1-Caterpillars and KS1-2026-2-Butterflies

Double-click the required marksheet to open it.

Inputting Student Data

There are two columns in the KS1 Stage Assessment relating to the Phonics Return.

Phonics Screening Check Outcome
Phonics Screening Check Mark

The screenshot below is taken from the DfE Assessment Component Files 2026 guidance and outlines the required column headings for the Phonics Screening Checks. Please refer to this when entering data.

For the 2026 DfE guidance on completing the Phonics Screening Check see here.

To view the Phonics Screening Check columns ONLY click on the top-right cog icon

Check the tick box to Show Key Stage 1 Mandatory Subjects Only and select Confirm.

Use the right-hand scroll bar to view all students in the sheet.

The results will need to be entered for each individual student.

For certain pupils, the Phonics Screening Check Outcome will need to be populated and submitted as part of the return.

Once the Phonics Screening Check pass mark is made available, the Phonics Screening Check Outcome can be populated for all students who undertook the test.

This can be populated a student at a time but can be made easier by filtering the Phonics Screening Check Mark and Flood Filling the Outcome.

Right-click the Phonics Screening Check Mark column and select Filter.

Select the marks you would like to bulk update the Phonics Mark Outcome for.

In this example we will be marking any student with a mark at or above 30 with an outcome of Wa.

Click Confirm.

Right-click the Phonics Screening Check Outcome column header and select Flood Fill.

Select the Outcome you wish to be used to populate the fields.

The selected Outcome will be populated for the students visible.

To remove the column filter, right click the Phonics Screening Check Mark header again and Select All.

Data is saved automatically as it is inputted.

Creating a Phonics Return CTF

This section explains how to create a Phonics Return CTF to submit to either the Local Authority or directly to the DfE via Collect.

Navigate to Students in the left-hand menu to open the Students List Page

Students can be selected in different ways:

Individually: Manually select the students for whom a CTF needs to be produced. In the screenshot below, two students have been selected.

By Year Group: Add the Year Group column by clicking the Add/Remove Additional Columns icon in the top-right corner. Select Year Group, then click Save.