KS2 Baseline Assessment Pack
For Use with Spelling with Grammarsaurus
This KS2 Baseline Assessment Pack has been created to support schools in accurately identifying children’s knowledge of key graphemes before beginning Spelling with Grammarsaurus. The assessment is designed to be fair, research-informed, and supportive—particularly for learners with literacy difficulties or poor working memory.
📝 What’s Included

A 35-word spelling test delivered through dictation
A teacher transcript for delivery
An answer sheet
A grapheme analysis sheet to identify specific gaps
A reduced grapheme chart based on verified, essential graphemes only

🔍 Why This Matters
Too often, children remain in phonics intervention from Year 2 through Year 6 due to being measured against inflated expectations—including invented or excessive alternate graphemes found in some commercial schemes. These invented graphemes, often exceeding 150 variants, unfairly penalise children who struggle with memorisation, leading to a damaging cycle of failure and disengagement.
To challenge this, we commissioned two literacy specialists to examine two leading phonics programmes. Their findings helped us strip the assessment back to only real, essential graphemes—ensuring a more accurate and fair picture of each child’s starting point.
✍️ About the Spelling Test

The test consists of 35 carefully chosen words, many of which are compound words.
These words cover a wide range of high-frequency and phonetically plausible graphemes.
To support success, especially for learners with working memory challenges, compound words should be split during delivery.E.g. for “playground”: say “play… now spell… ground.”

📘 How to Administer & Use the Results

Read the Teacher Transcript aloud to the class, splitting compound words as needed.
Mark the spellings using the answer sheet.
For each incorrect word, use the Grapheme Analysis Sheet to identify the specific grapheme that wasn’t secure.
Black graphemes are common and essential. Green graphemes are less common.
These graphemes become each child’s bespoke spelling gaps, which should be plugged alongside your regular teaching of Spelling with Grammarsaurus.

💡 These gaps should be plugged alongside the regular teaching of Spelling with Grammarsaurus.Please note: we do not yet provide standalone intervention resources for these graphemes.
There is no fixed pass mark for this assessment.

✅ Key Benefits

Aligns directly with Spelling with Grammarsaurus
Fairly assesses only real, essential graphemes
Removes the unrealistic burden of memorising excessive spelling alternatives
Empowers teachers to make informed, gap-focused spelling decisions...