If you would like to download a blank self assessment form, please click here (Word 78 KB). The information below will help you complete the form.

The Department has published a set of criteria to help schools and early years settings judge how well teaching programmes meet the characteristics of high quality phonic work as defined in the Rose Review. We strongly encourage schools and early years settings to consider these criteria when making decisions about the type of commercial phonics product they choose. The criteria are not prioritised in any way and we would expect a good support programme to meet all the criteria.

To ensure that this process is as easy and useful as possible for schools and settings we invite publishers of commercial products to evaluate their own materials against the criteria and complete a self-assessment form. The form is in two parts:

• Part 1 - This 'snapshot' assessment provides information about what the product offers and demonstrates how it fares overall against the criteria.
• Part 2 - This offers further detailed information about how their product meets each of the criteria.

This process is a voluntary one. However, we would urge providers of phonics teaching materials to ensure that schools and settings have accurate information in order to make informed choices about the support required.

In completing the self-evaluation, publishers should bear in mind that schools and settings may have a large number of self-assessments to consider, therefore information provided should be succinct and focused on the criteria in a form that is easy to read and understand. Please note that there are word limits for the text boxes provided within the form.

Completed self-assessments can be displayed on this website for schools to browse through before making a decision. The Department does not endorse, rank or otherwise prioritise the programmes and publishers that appear on this website. Programmes with completed assessments should not be regarded as, or publicised as, a "DCSF approved" programme. However, completed forms can be used for the purposes of demonstrating to schools how a programme meets the criteria and can, for example, be displayed on publishers' own websites.

We acknowledge that many publishers produce high quality supplementary and enrichment phonic materials which many schools and early years settings find very useful. It will help schools and settings if you can indicate whether your product is a full phonics teaching programme, or whether it is a resource which can be successfully paired with such.

We expect publishers to provide accurate information about their products and the Department has established a process whereby completed self-assessment forms are independently scrutinised for accuracy. As part of this process, publishers should note that they will be asked to provide the Department with materials or information relating to their phonics teaching materials. Publishers should note that self assessments will only be placed on the site once this process has taken place.

If you would like to download a blank self assessment form, please click here (Word 78 KB). If you would like to submit a completed document please e-mail your document to: phonics.mailbox@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk.