How long are the phonics lessons?

The lessons begin at 10–15 minutes in Reception Autumn 1. By Christmas, the Reception lessons will be 20–25 minutes long. In Year 1, the lessons are 20–25 minutes and sometimes may take a bit longer when you are teaching a new routine, reviewing lots of words or exploring more complicated content in ‘Grow the code’ lessons.

The DfE and Ofsted are fully supportive of these lesson lengths:

‘Phonics sessions might be only ten minutes long in the first few days. However, by the end of Reception, children will need about an hour a day, maybe split into different sessions for different activities, to consolidate previous learning, learn new content and practise and apply what they have learnt.’ (The Reading framework, DfE 2023)