The English Alphabetic Code
The Teacher Test of Phonological–Orthographic Mapping (POM)
Mapping the Alphabetic Code
If teachers are expected to understand and work with the English alphabetic code, education departments and school leaders need to know that they can. We are developing a programme-independent Teacher Test of Phonological–Orthographic Mapping and calculation formula to establish whether teachers can identify phonemes and graphemes and map the relationships between them accurately and bidirectionally, while recognising legitimate variation in accent and pronunciation.
Once the Word Mapping Standard has been established for a jurisdiction, we can develop the Word Mapping Tool to apply that standard consistently at the point of need. We plan to make this teacher tool available free of charge, so that any teacher can enter a word and immediately see which letters form the graphemes and the phoneme value each represents according to the expected mapping for their jurisdiction, while recognising that the phonemes may differ according to the speaker’s accent and pronunciation.
This work falls under the wider Mapping the Alphabetic Code (MAC) Project, which is developing an International Word Mapping Standard that can be adapted for each country.
The initial work focuses on England and Australia, where the test and formula are being developed against education authorities’ published expectations. They cannot be finalised until clarification has been obtained from the relevant education authorities about how those expectations should be applied consistently when mapping words, including those containing correspondences that have not been explicitly taught within phonics programmes.
The framework can then be extended to other English-speaking education systems, including the United States, with the test and calculation formula adapted where education authorities specify a different approach to word mapping.
The aim is to provide education departments and school leaders with a consistent way to assess teacher knowledge against their own stated expectations, identify gaps and determine where further training is needed, and to provide teachers with a free Word Mapping Tool so they can be confident that the information they give to students at the point of need is consistent with the Word Mapping Standard for their jurisdiction.
WORD MAPPING STANDARD
The Word Mapping Standard is not a phonics programme, literacy programme or curriculum. It is a reference standard for phonological–orthographic mapping, aligned with the published expectations of the relevant education authority.
It establishes, for words within a specified reference pronunciation, which letters form the graphemes and the phoneme value each represents, providing teachers with a consistent reference for mapping the English alphabetic code.
In line with education authority guidance, the Word Mapping Standard recognises legitimate variation in accent and pronunciation. When a word is mapped according to an individual speaker’s pronunciation, the phonemes may differ from the reference pronunciation and, as a result, the grapheme analysis may also differ.
The aim is to establish a consistent Word Mapping Standard that can underpin teacher knowledge, teacher assessment, training and the free Word Mapping Tool, giving teachers confidence that the mapping information they provide to students is aligned with the expectations of their jurisdiction.
TEACHER TEST OF PHONOLOGICAL–ORTHOGRAPHIC MAPPING
Do your teachers have the knowledge to map words accurately and consistently?
The Teacher Test of Phonological–Orthographic Mapping (POM) is being designed to assess whether teachers can identify the phonemes in spoken words and map them accurately to the graphemes that represent them.
It consists of two parts.
PART 1: MAP YOUR OWN SPEECH
Teachers say words naturally in their own accent, identify the constituent speech sounds they actually use, and then map those sounds to the graphemes in the written words.
This assesses whether teachers can identify the phonemes in their own speech independently of orthographic knowledge or previously taught phonics correspondences, before applying their knowledge of the alphabetic code.
It matters because teachers need to be able to listen to the sounds children actually use, rather than allowing the letters they see or the GPCs they expect to influence the sounds they identify.
PART 2: MAP THE INSTRUCTIONAL REFERENCE
Teachers select the standardised pronunciation relevant to their teaching context, for example British English, Australian English or American English.
They listen to the supplied reference pronunciation, identify its constituent phonemes, produce those sounds accurately when saying the segmented sounds and whole word, and map them to the corresponding graphemes.
This assesses whether teachers can work with a shared, standardised phonological–orthographic mapping for phonics instruction, even where that pronunciation differs from their own accent.
TWO QUESTIONS. TWO ESSENTIAL SKILLS.
Can you map the speech you actually use and hear?
Can you map the standardised pronunciation you need to use for phonics instruction?
Together, the two parts distinguish personal accent variation from the shared reference knowledge teachers need for instruction.
Teachers who demonstrate mastery across both parts receive a:
CERTIFICATE OF PHONOLOGICAL–ORTHOGRAPHIC MAPPING MASTERY
A free, jurisdiction-specific Code Mapping tool will be offered, supporting teachers in applying that knowledge to words encountered throughout the school day, regardless of the phonics programme being used.
ASSESS → TRAIN → RETEST → CERTIFY
The Phonics Screening Check for Teachers
Can your teachers consistently map any word, in both directions, according to how it is pronounced? Do they know what their education department expects of them, and can they demonstrate that knowledge? Do they know why it matters?
THE ENGLISH ALPHABETIC CODE
Can your teachers calculate it?
Education departments expect teachers to understand and use the English alphabetic code.
But do education departments and school leaders actually know whether teachers have the knowledge required to do this?
Can they independently determine:
Which phonemes? How many?
Which graphemes? How many?
Which phoneme value does each grapheme represent?
Government guidance tells teachers what they need to identify. But no universally agreed formula has been provided for calculating the answer.
What does the Department for Education in England expect?
The Department for Education (DfE) expects phonics knowledge to be applied when children decode and spell words throughout the curriculum.
Primary teachers therefore need to be able to identify which letters form graphemes and their corresponding phoneme values in words.
National guidance defines early word reading and spelling in terms of the relationship between spoken sounds and written letters.
The Reading Framework states:
“Understanding that the letters on the page represent the sounds in spoken words underpins successful word reading. Pupils’ knowledge of the English alphabetic code, how letters or groups of letters represent the sounds of the language, supports their reading and spelling.”
(Department for Education, England, 2023)
The same document further states:
“This guidance explains why teachers themselves also need to understand the alphabetic code: evidence supports the key role of phonic knowledge and skills in early reading and spelling.”
(Department for Education, England, 2023)
So what does that require teachers to be able to do?
PRINT → SPEECH
In reading, pupils are taught to decode by identifying graphemes in written words from left to right, saying the corresponding phonemes, and blending those phonemes to say the whole word (Department for Education, England, 2023, p. 47).
That requires teachers to know:
Which letters form the graphemes?
How many graphemes?
Which phoneme value does each represent?
SPEECH → PRINT
In spelling, pupils are taught to say a word clearly, segment it into phonemes, and select graphemes to represent each phoneme in writing (Department for Education, England, Writing Framework, 2025, p. 41).
That requires teachers to know:
Which phonemes?
How many phonemes?
Which graphemes represent them?
SPEECH ⇄ PRINT
The process is bidirectional.
And teachers need to be able to apply this knowledge beyond the correspondences children have already been explicitly taught.
Statutory spelling guidance states:
“Pupils’ attention should be drawn to the grapheme-phoneme correspondences that do and do not fit in with what has been taught so far.”
So teachers need to recognise and explain correspondences that have not yet been taught.
There is therefore a clear difference between knowing the GPCs taught within a programme and having the code knowledge required to analyse the words children encounter throughout KS1, KS2 and beyond.
Children need to continue extending their knowledge of the alphabetic code as they encounter new words.
But that creates an important question for education departments and school leaders:
DO YOUR TEACHERS HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE TO DO THIS?
And, as importantly:
HOW DO YOU KNOW?
AUSTRALIA EXPECTS TEACHERS TO UNDERSTAND AND USE THE CODE
The NSW Department of Education states:
“Phonic knowledge refers to the relationship between speech sounds (phonemes) and their letter symbols (graphemes).”
It describes the Standard Australian English alphabetic code and states:
“Understanding and using the alphabetic code is essential for fluent and meaningful reading and writing in English.”
(NSW Department of Education)
The Australian Government Literacy Hub makes the required operation particularly clear. It states:
“Mapping words in the early stages of reading and spelling development involves:
identifying the phonemes that you hear
indicating how many there are
representing those phonemes using single letters.”
(Australian Government Literacy Hub)
The same government resource states:
“Knowledge of the alphabetic code is the glue that connects the way a word is said, the way it is spelled and its meaning.”
Again, teachers are being told what they need to do.
Identify the phonemes they hear.
Determine how many there are.
Determine how those phonemes are represented in print.
But this leaves the critical question:
HOW DO THEY KNOW THE ANSWER?
Given a word:
Which phonemes?
How many?
Which letters constitute the graphemes?
How many?
Which phoneme value does each grapheme represent?
Knowing the definitions of phoneme and grapheme doesn't provide the analysis.
Someone has to calculate it.
THE MISSING PIECE
The DfE itself states:
“The chart is not definitive because the alphabetic code can be analysed in various ways.”
(Department for Education, England, Reading Framework, 2023, Appendix 5)
Education departments tell teachers what they need to identify.
They expect teachers to understand and use the alphabetic code.
But across the national guidance examined in England and Australia, no general formula has been provided for calculating the answer consistently.
This leaves a practical problem:
How do teachers calculate the code consistently?
The Teacher Test of Phonological–Orthographic Mapping establishes whether they can.
The POM Formula provides a systematic way to develop the knowledge required when they can't.
INTRODUCING THE POM FORMULA
Phonological–Orthographic Mapping (POM) Formula
The POM Formula provides a systematic way to calculate the relationship between the phonological and orthographic structures of English words.
It answers the practical questions teachers are already expected to answer:
Which phonemes? How many?
Which graphemes? How many?
Which phoneme values?
And it works in both directions:
SPEECH ⇄ PRINT
The POM Formula provides a consistent framework for analysing the code, while recognising that pronunciation varies.
This is why the Teacher Test separates personal pronunciation from the standardised pronunciation selected for phonics instruction.
Teachers first demonstrate that they can identify and map the sounds in their own speech. They then demonstrate that they can identify, produce and map the sounds in their selected instructional reference, such as British English, Australian English or American English.
The distinction means accent variation isn't treated as an error, while teachers can still demonstrate the shared reference knowledge required for phonics instruction.
The POM Formula makes the analysis:
explicit • consistent • teachable • checkable • assessable
ASSESS. TRAIN. RETEST. CERTIFY.
Assess teacher knowledge
The Teacher Test of Phonological–Orthographic Mapping establishes what teachers can actually do, rather than assuming knowledge from completion of phonics training.
Train teachers to calculate the alphabetic code
Where gaps are identified, POM Formula training teaches educators how to independently calculate the phonological and orthographic structure of words.
Not another list of mappings to memorise.
A formula for working out the answer.
Retest and certify mastery
Teachers are reassessed after training.
Those who demonstrate the required knowledge and skills receive a:
CERTIFICATE OF PHONOLOGICAL–ORTHOGRAPHIC MAPPING MASTERY
Give teachers tools to use the knowledge
A free Alphabetic Code Mapping tool supports teachers in checking grapho-phonemic analyses, investigating unfamiliar correspondences and applying their knowledge to words encountered throughout the school day.
IF TEACHERS ARE EXPECTED TO UNDERSTAND THE CODE, DON'T ASSUME THEY DO.
Assess it. Train it. Retest it. Certify it.
Programme-independent Word Mapping Training for education departments, school systems, multi-academy trusts, schools, universities and teacher education providers.
This training is not linked to any phonics programme and does not teach an alternative programme or methodology.
It develops the specific knowledge teachers need to do what education departments expect them to do: identify the phonemes in spoken words, identify the graphemes that represent them, and map the correspondences bidirectionally for reading and spelling.
This is especially important when supporting children in the primary grades who will encounter words containing grapheme–phoneme correspondences that have not been explicitly taught within their school phonics programme.
BOOK WORD MAPPING TRAINING
Learn how to calculate the English alphabetic code, independently of any phonics programme.
Contact us for more information.
Mastery of phonological–orthographic mapping provides the underlying knowledge education departments already expect teachers to apply when supporting reading and spelling. Yet this knowledge is not currently routinely assessed during initial teacher education or in the workplace, so education departments and school leaders cannot assume that teachers can consistently do what guidance requires.
“Showing the code isn’t optional. But if they don’t know it, they can’t show it!”
Assessing and developing this mastery provides a way to establish that they can. It will also give school leaders and teachers the knowledge to evaluate phonics programmes more critically, understand what each programme does and doesn't provide, and make better-informed decisions about which programmes and approaches are most likely to meet the needs of their children. Teachers are better equipped to identify gaps, adapt or extend instruction where needed, support children to map unfamiliar words for reading and spelling throughout the school day, and analyse children’s own mapping to identify what they need next. This turns expectations about teacher knowledge into demonstrable practice and supports education departments in their wider goal of improving literacy standards.
“Schools should test all teachers working in primary education, as well as those delivering interventions. If they don’t know the code, they can’t show it.”