PGCE Literacy Revision for Primary Trainees (2027): English Subject Knowledge, Grammar and Spelling

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Starting a PGCE in primary teaching means teaching English every day — and being expected to explain it, not just use it. Most trainees write well themselves. Far fewer can explain why

their is not there, why a fronted adverbial needs a comma, or how a five-year-old learns that sh makes one sound.

This revision pack, written for the 2026–27 PGCE cohort, covers phonics, spelling, punctuation and grammar (SPaG), sentence types and reading, tied to the National Curriculum for English in England — plus a 15-question self-test and a two-week plan.

First, an important correction: there is no single QTS exam

If you have been searching for a "QTS literacy exam", here is the fact that changes your revision plan. There used to be national professional skills tests in literacy and numeracy that entrants had to pass before starting training. In July 2019 the Department for Education announced they would be abolished, and from April 2020 training providers themselves assure trainees' fundamental English and maths by the end of training.

So there is no single national QTS exam to cram for. Your provider checks your English during selection and the course — through written tasks, interviews, audits and your teaching on placement. This article is therefore revision, not exam prep: the goal is subject knowledge you can teach with.

From the Department for Education's Get Into Teaching service: QTS is the professional status you need to teach in most maintained schools in England; a PGCE is an academic qualification most postgraduate courses award alongside it, but you do not strictly need a PGCE to teach. A full-time postgraduate course usually takes around 9 months, with at least two school placements. To start primary training you generally need GCSE English and maths at grade 4 (C) or above — and GCSE science as well for primary.

How the National Curriculum for English is organised

Everything below maps to the National Curriculum for English (key stages 1 and 2), the document your placement schools teach from:

• Reading has two dimensions: word reading (decoding) and comprehension (understanding). Both need teaching.
• Writing has two dimensions: transcription (spelling and handwriting) and composition (articulating ideas and structuring them for a reader).
• Spelling, vocabulary, grammar and punctuation are set out in two statutory appendices, plus a non-statutory glossary for teachers — "an aid for teachers, not as the body of knowledge that should be learnt by pupils", in the Department for Education's words.
• Spoken language underpins everything — reading and writing both build on it.

1. Phonics: the foundation of early reading

Phonics connects sounds (phonemes) with the letters or groups of letters that represent them (graphemes). Children learn to blend sounds to read a word and segment sounds to spell it. The National Curriculum says phonics "should be emphasised in the early teaching of reading to beginners", and schools in England are expected to use a validated systematic synthetic phonics programme.

The six phases (Letters and Sounds)

Most trainees meet phonics through the six-phase structure from Letters and Sounds:

Phase	What children learn
Phase 1	Listening: sounds, rhythm and rhyme, alliteration, oral blending and segmenting
Phase 2	19 letters and their sounds; blending simple CVC words like cat
Phase 3	Remaining letters plus digraphs (ch, sh, th, ng, ai, ee, igh, oa, oo)
Phase 4	Adjacent consonants — longer words (stamp, frog, went); no new graphemes
Phase 5	Alternative spellings for known sounds (ay, a-e, ai = /eɪ/)
Phase 6	Spelling rules: suffixes, prefixes such as un-, past tense

Terms you must be able to use correctly

• Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound (about 44 in English). Grapheme: a letter or group of letters for a phoneme (sh is one grapheme, one phoneme).
• Digraph: two letters, one sound (ch, ai). Trigraph: three letters, one sound (igh, ear). GPC: grapheme–phoneme correspondence.
• Blending: pushing sounds together to read. Segmenting: splitting a word into its sounds to spell it.
• Common exception words: words that cannot be sounded out — the, said, was, friend.

A classic trainee error is calling a digraph "two sounds". It is two letters and one sound.

2. SPaG essentials: the grammar you will actually teach

SPaG stands for spelling, punctuation and grammar. In primary school it is taught so children can write clearly, not as abstract theory. The word classes that come up most in Years 1 to 6:

• Noun: a person, place, thing or idea. Proper nouns (names) take capital letters.
• Verb: an action or a state of being. Watch the forms: was/were, did/done, has/have.
• Adjective: describes a noun. Adverb: describes a verb, an adjective or another adverb — many end in -ly, but not all (fast, well).
• Pronoun: stands in for a noun (she, they, it). Possessive pronouns (mine, theirs) never take an apostrophe.
• Preposition: shows place, time or direction (in, on, under, before).
• Conjunction: joins words or clauses. Co-ordinating conjunctions join equal parts (and, but, or, so). Subordinating conjunctions introduce a subordinate clause (because, although, when, if).
• Determiner: introduces a noun (the, a, this, some, my).
• Subject and object: the subject does the action; the object receives it ("The dog chased the ball").

Standard English vs dialect

Pupils must be taught Standard English — the forms expected in formal writing, as distinct from informal speech. Explain why "we was going" is non-standard (we were) without making a child feel their home language is wrong.

3. Spelling rules worth revising properly

English spelling is irregular, but not random. The statutory spelling appendix sets out rules by year group, and the Years 3–4 and Years 5–6 word lists each contain 100 words. Revise these rules:

• Doubling the final consonant: before a vowel suffix, double the final consonant of a short word with a short vowel — run → running, stop → stopped. Not when the vowel is long: read → reading.
• Dropping the silent e: drop it before a vowel suffix — make → making — but keep it before a consonant suffix: careful.
• Changing y to i: happy → happiness, cry → cried. Keep the y before -ing: copying.
• -tion / -sion: -tion is usual (action); -sion follows sounds like /ʒ/ (television).
• i before e except after c: a useful starting point (believe, receive), but with many exceptions — a guideline, never a law.
• Homophones: pairs that sound the same but are spelt differently — their/there/they're, your/you're, to/too/two, its/it's. Explain each pair in one sentence.
• Prefixes and suffixes: un-, dis-, mis-, re-, pre- change meaning; -ness, -ment, -ful, -less, -ous change word class. Teach word families (happy, unhappy, happiness, happily).

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4. Punctuation: small marks, big marks lost

• Apostrophes have two jobs only: possession (the girl's book) and contraction (don't, it's). They never make a plural: potato's is always wrong.
• Commas after fronted adverbials: a comma follows an opening adverbial phrase — After lunch, we went outside.
• Commas in lists and for clauses: separate list items and mark off extra information (My brother, who lives in Leeds, is visiting).
• Inverted commas: new speaker, new line. Punctuation goes inside the closing mark when it belongs to the speech: "I'm coming," she said.
• Colons and semi-colons: a colon introduces a list or an explanation (I need three things: a pen, a book and a plan). A semi-colon joins two closely related clauses.
• Parenthesis: brackets, dashes or commas add extra information — The hall (which was built in 1920) was full.

5. Sentence types and how to build them

Primary English teaching is built on four sentence types, and on the difference between simple, compound and complex sentences:

Type	Example	Purpose
Statement	The rain stopped at noon.	Gives information
Question	Did the rain stop at noon?	Asks something
Command	Close the door.	Gives an instruction
Exclamation	What a beautiful morning!	Expresses strong feeling

• Simple sentence: one main clause — The cat slept.
• Compound sentence: two main clauses joined by a co-ordinating conjunction — The cat slept and the dog barked.
• Complex sentence: a main clause plus a subordinate clause — The cat slept because it was tired. The subordinate clause cannot stand alone.
• Fronted adverbial: a word or phrase at the start of a sentence telling you when, where or how — At midnight, ... — followed by a comma.
• Relative clause: extra information about a noun, introduced by who, which or that.

Try it: rewrite one simple sentence as compound, then as complex, adding a fronted adverbial each time.

6. Reading: word reading and comprehension

Remember the two dimensions of reading. Word reading is decoding — phonics, fluency, recognising familiar words quickly. Comprehension is understanding — vocabulary, inference, prediction and summarising.

Trainees often over-focus on decoding and under-teach comprehension. That is where your subject knowledge shows: asking why a character acted that way, what a word means in context, how an author creates suspense. Read widely yourself — picture books, poetry and non-fiction — because you cannot teach a love of reading from a worksheet.

15-question self-test: PGCE literacy

Try all 15 before checking the answers. Aim for 12+.

1. In the word ship, how many phonemes are there? A) 4 B) 3 C) 2 D) 5 2. Which of these is a digraph? A) str B) sh C) s D) ight 3. Which sentence uses Standard English? A) We was going home. B) We was went home. C) We were going home. D) We been going home. 4. Choose the correct sentence. A) The dogs bone is buried. B) The dog's bone is buried. C) The dogs' bone is buried. D) The dogs's bone is buried. 5. Which word is spelt correctly? A) recieve B) believe C) beleive D) recive 6. In "Slowly, the old door opened", slowly is: A) a fronted adverbial B) a preposition C) an adjective D) a conjunction 7. Which sentence is complex? A) The bell rang and the children left. B) The bell rang. C) When the bell rang, the children left. D) Ring the bell! 8. Which pair is a homophone pair? A) their / there B) cat / cut C) big / large D) run / ran 9. What is the past tense of cry? A) cryed B) cried C) cryied D) crying 10. Which punctuation mark introduces a list? A) Semi-colon B) Comma C) Colon D) Dash 11. In "The book that I borrowed was fascinating", that I borrowed is: A) a main clause B) a relative clause C) a fronted adverbial D) a phrase with no verb 12. Which word needs a doubled consonant before -ing? A) read B) run C) sleep D) paint 13. "The children, who were excited, waited quietly." The commas are used for: A) a list B) parenthesis C) direct speech D) a question 14. Which is the correct plural possessive? A) the teachers book B) the teacher's books C) the teachers' books D) the teachers's books 15. Segmenting a word means: A) blending sounds to read it B) splitting it into its sounds to spell it C) finding its root word D) counting its syllables

Answers and explanations

1. B — 3. sh, i, p — four letters, three sounds.
2. B — sh. Two letters, one sound. str is a blend; ight is a trigraph.
3. C — We were going home. We takes were.
4. B — The dog's bone is buried. One dog: apostrophe before the s.
5. B — believe. i before e; receive follows "except after c".
6. A — a fronted adverbial. Slowly opens the sentence, followed by a comma.
7. C — When the bell rang, the children left. Main clause plus subordinate clause.
8. A — their / there. Same sound, different spelling.
9. B — cried. Change y to i before -ed.
10. C — Colon. Introduces a list or an explanation.
11. B — a relative clause. Extra information about the book.
12. B — run → running. Short word, short vowel: double the consonant.
13. B — parenthesis. The commas mark off removable extra information.
14. C — the teachers' books. Plural noun ending in s: apostrophe after the s.
15. B — splitting it into its sounds to spell it. Blending is for reading; segmenting is for spelling.

How to read your score: 13–15 — secure; focus on teaching it. 10–12 — solid, but revisit missed sections. Below 10 — work through the plan before your next placement.

Your two-week revision plan

Day	Focus	What to do
1	Phonics phases 1–3	Phase table; practise blending and segmenting
2	Phonics phases 4–6	Alternative graphemes; suffix rules; exception words
3	Word classes	One example of each class from a picture book
4	Spelling rules	Doubling, dropping e, y to i, -tion/-sion
5	Homophones	One sentence per pair in section 3
6	Punctuation 1	Apostrophes and commas; proofread your own writing
7	Rest + retest	Retake questions 1–8; note weak spots
8	Sentence types	Rewrite one sentence as compound, then complex
9	Punctuation 2	Speech punctuation; colons, semi-colons, parenthesis
10	Reading	Two picture books; three questions each
11	SPaG mixed review	Re-read sections 2–5; teach one rule aloud
12	Full self-test	All 15 questions, timed (15 minutes)
13	Weak spots	Re-study your lowest-scoring sections
14	Teach it	A 10-minute mini-lesson on one topic, as for Year 3

Best habit: day 11 — explain a rule aloud to someone else.

Keep going

Literacy revision pairs with numeracy revision — most providers audit both. Continue with PGCE Numeracy Revision for Primary Trainees, Primary Teacher Interview Questions and Answers (UK), and our Free Lesson Plan Template (UK).

Frequently asked questions

Is there a QTS literacy exam I need to pass? No. The national skills tests were abolished; from April 2020 providers assure trainees' fundamental English and maths.

Do I need a PGCE to teach in England? No — you need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS). A PGCE is an academic qualification most courses award alongside QTS, but it is not the legal requirement.

What are the phonics phases? The six phases of the Letters and Sounds framework, from Phase 1 (listening) to Phase 6 (spelling rules) — a widely used reference for sequencing validated phonics programmes.

How much English subject knowledge do primary trainees really need? Enough to teach the whole primary English curriculum confidently — phonics early on, spelling and grammar through key stage 2, and reading comprehension throughout. No English degree is needed.

Where can I check the official requirements? The Department for Education's Get Into Teaching service explains the routes into teaching, and the National Curriculum for English programmes of study on GOV.UK is the authoritative source.

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Sources checked 2026-11-06: GOV.UK Get Into Teaching; GOV.UK National Curriculum in England: English programmes of study; House of Commons Library Briefing 6710 (16 December 2019). Written for the 2026–27 PGCE cohort. Revision guidance for trainees in England; Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own systems. Confirm your provider's requirements directly.