Levels of Learning

Phonics Hero takes children aged 4–7 through three years of phonics learning, from their first sounds to reading and spelling independently. Children learn small groups of sounds, then blend them together to read words and break them apart to spell words.

Which Level Will My Child Start On?

There are 26 levels, split into three parts: Basic Code, Advanced Code and Complete the Code. We place your child by what they can already do, not by their age, so older children who need to catch up can start at the right level too.

When your child first plays, they can start at Level 1 (for new readers) or take our Placement Test. The test asks your child to read nonsense words, so it checks their phonics knowledge, not words they’ve memorised.

The Placement Test

If the level isn’t quite right, you can move your child up or down at any time.

Not Sure Which Level? Try a Quick Check

If you don’t want your child to resit the Placement Test, use the levels table for your country below and:

Reading: Ask your child to read the example words aloud, starting from the first level. Stop when they get two wrong on a level.
Spelling: Work backwards. Ask your child to spell the example words from that level, then the level before, and so on. When they spell every word on a level correctly, start them on the level after that one.

For example, if your child makes two reading errors on Level 9, then makes spelling errors on Levels 9 and 8 but none on Level 7, start them on Level 8.

Which Sound Order Will My Child Learn?

Phonics Hero has two sound orders. We automatically pick the right one for your country, based on its curriculum and accent.

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and USA
Rest of the world

Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and USA

We follow the Playing with Sounds order. Download the Playing with Sounds order (PDF)

Part 1: Basic Code (Beginning Reader and Speller)

Level	Sounds	Examples
1	s m c t g p a o	sat, mop, tap, cog
2	r l d b f h i u	rag, fib, hid, lug
3	v w y z j n k e	vat, win, zip, ink, men, yum
4	ll ss ff zz	bell, huff, buzz, mass
5	sh ch th wh	shall, then, chum, which
6	ck ng qu x	pack, sung, quick, flex

What your child learns

The first 29 of the 44 sounds in English
A sound for each letter of the alphabet, and that some sounds are written with two letters, like ‘sh’ and ‘ch’
To read and spell over 350 words
To read over 150 sentences
36 tricky words (we call them camera words), which children need to read and write sentences

Part 2: Advanced Code (Emerging Reader and Speller)

Level	Sounds	Examples
7	VCC, CCVC and CVCC words	ash, stop, drum, gift, dress
8	ee ea y e	cheek, beach, merry, being
9	i igh y ie i_e	blind, thigh, spy, tried, drive
10	o oa ow o_e	hotel, boast, pillow, alone
11	a ai ay a_e	lady, chain, fray, grape
12	oo ew ue u_e	spoon, grew, blue, fluke

V = vowel, C = consonant

What your child learns

The five main long vowel sounds: ee, igh, oa, ai and oo
The different ways to spell each one, like ‘ee’, ‘ea’ and ‘y’
To read and spell over 250 new words
To read over 150 new sentences
36 new tricky words

Part 3: Complete the Code (Advancing Reader and Speller)

Level	Sounds	Examples
13	r rr wr	risky, carrot, wrung
14	oi oy	point, toilet, employ, royal
15	ph f ff	dolphin, shelf, offend
16	ow ou	drowsy, allow, crouch, ground
17	c ce s se ss	pencil, fence, sixty, rinse, stress
18	u oo oul	full, bully, shook, should
19	ar a	sharp, parcel, grasp, chant
20	ir er ear ur or	squirt, berth, early, blurb, world
21	or au aw al ore	horse, pause, scrawl, stalk, swore
22	air ear are ere	hairy, bear, parent, there
23	j dge ge g	wedge, fridge, surgeon, giraffe
24	ch tch tu	child, charm, blotch, fracture
25	sh ci ti	splash, shrunk, gracious, direction
26	s si	unusual, leisure, illusion, abrasion

What your child learns

The remaining sounds and spellings, completing the phonics code
To read and spell over 450 new words
To read over 375 new sentences
Then they’re ready to read and spell on their own

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Rest of the World

We follow the Letters and Sounds order. Download the Letters and Sounds order (PDF)

Part 1: Basic Code (Beginning Reader and Speller)

Phase 2

Level	Sounds	Examples
1a	s a t p	sat, pat, tap, sap
1b	i n m d	sit, nip, man, din
2a	g o c k	tag, cop, kid, kit
2b	ck e u r	rack, rug, sock, deck
3a	h b f l	him, back, fan, log
3b	ff ll ss	huff, hiss, hill, kiss

Phase 3

Level	Sounds	Examples
4a	j v w x	jam, van, wet, fox
4b	y z zz qu	yell, zip, buzz, quick
5a	ch sh th ng	much, shell, them, sing
5b	ai ee igh oa	rain, queen, light, toast
6a	oo (zoo) oo (book) ar or	shoot, hook, shark, pork
6b	ur ow oi ear	blur, clown, point, beard
6c	air ure er	chair, mature, flower

Part 2: Advanced Code (Emerging Reader and Speller)

Phase 4

Level	Sounds	Examples
7a	CVCC and CCVC words	help, speech, moist, thump
7b	Words with more than one syllable	treetop, driftwood, starlight, shelving

Phase 5: New Spellings for Reading

Level	Sounds	Examples
8a	ay ou ie ea	play, ground, dried, speak
8b	oy ir ue aw	destroy, thirty, true, straw
8c	wh ph ew oe au	whisper, elephant, threw, tomatoes, August
8d	a_e e_e i_e o_e u_e	brake, concrete, smile, joke, prune

Phase 5: One Spelling, Different Sounds

Some spellings make more than one sound. For example, ‘o’ sounds different in hot and cold. Children learn to try each sound until the word makes sense.

Level	Spelling	Examples
9a	i	quit wild
9a	o	pocket frozen
9a	c	picnic fireplace
9a	g	dragon magic
9b	u	drummer bully
9b	ow	power yellow
9b	ie	magpie cookie
9b	ea	dream meadow
9c	er	tower herb
9c	a	cashew wander
9c	y	yoyo my cloudy
9c	ch	coach chemist chef
9c	ou	out shoulder could you

Phase 5: Alternative Spellings

Level	Sounds	Examples
10a	ch tu tch	cherub, picture, switch
10b	f ff ph	fish, fluff, dolphin
11a	j dge ge g	jazz, bridge, cabbage, giant
11b	r rr wr	robot, carrot, wrench
12	s c ce ss se	socks, pencil, bounce, kiss, house

Part 3: Complete the Code (Advancing Reader and Speller)

Level	Sounds	Examples
13	sh ci ti	brush, special, station
14	ai a ay a_e	stain, apron, tray, whale
15	ee ea y e	sleep, dream, twenty, she
16	igh i y ie i_e	bright, blind, fly, fried, smile
17	oa o ow o_e	groan, hotel, crow, joke
18	oo ew ue u_e	tooth, threw, glue, prune
19	u oo oul	helpful, firewood, should
20	ar a	market, banana
21	or au aw al ore	report, launch, draw, seashore
22	ur ir er ear or	burst, birthday, germ, heard, artwork
23	ow ou	crown, ground
24	oi oy	boiling, destroy
25	air ear are ere	airship, pear, scarecrow, where
26	s si (zh)	treasure, television

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