Little Wandle Code

Phonics intervention for struggling older readers

One programme: Three expert partners

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Introducing Little Wandle Code

Tried and tested with over 60 schools through a three-year pilot, Little Wandle Code systematically improves your struggling readers’ decoding skills, laying the foundations for them to become confident, fluent readers.

Combining the trusted phonics expertise of Little Wandle with FFT’s 25-year track record of data and assessment support, Little Wandle Code is further strengthened by Collins, whose award-winning books have supported generations of children to learn to read.

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Who needs Little Wandle Code?

Right now, around 25% of students arrive in Year 7 without the reading skills they need to access the secondary curriculum. Left unaddressed, low literacy puts these children at serious risk of low self-esteem, poor behaviour and persistent absence now, and lower earnings, possible unemployment and poor mental health in the future.

At the same time, reading for pleasure is at a 20-year low with only one in three children aged 8-18 saying they enjoy reading in their free time (National Literacy Trust 2025).

The planned introduction of the Year 8 reading test, coupled with inclusion of Key Stage 3 in the Reading Framework (2023), confirms the government has identified that equitable access to the curriculum is now a national priority.

Why choose Little Wandle Code?

Tried and tested

Developed with 60 mainstream and special secondary schools, our inclusive design makes the programme ideal for children with SEND or EAL.

Supports reading for pleasure

Our programme-wide emphasis on loving to read, not just learning to read, supports students to build lifelong reading for pleasure habits.

Includes full training for all staff

Scripted lesson formats and an on-demand, video-based training programme allow all staff to quickly build the knowledge they need to lead and deliver successful interventions.

Builds self-esteem and supports transition

Small-group, face-to-face interventions using appealing, age-appropriate resources build students’ confidence as readers as well as supporting Year 7 transition.

Assessments linked to next steps for teaching

Built-in assessments provide a clear journey for each struggling reader from identification to intervention and progress.

Provides clear monitoring and reporting

Ongoing and summative assessments allow easy monitoring, reporting and sharing of information about each student’s progress.

Evidence-led approach

Informed by the latest educational research about how students learn the foundational skills underpinning expert reading.

Supports vocabulary development

Interventions use Tier 2 and 3 subject-specific vocabulary directly linked to the Key Stage 3 national curriculum to build vocabulary.

For more information about how Little Wandle Code works, case study blogs and the impact it’s had on schools, visit the Little Wandle Code site.

What schools are saying

Feedback from the 60 pilot schools that have been using Little Wandle Code

Incredible progress!

One student has gone from a reading age of 8 years 8 months in September to 12 years 7 months in July. Now over 6 months above his biological age. Incredible progress! Little Wandle Code has unlocked the issues he had with reading and he is flying! All his teachers have also reported an improvement in his behaviour as it is possible he was deflecting away from feeling exposed about his fluency of reading.

Alex Scull

Head of English, Graveney School

Structured, consistent approach

The structured, consistent approach of the programme appears to be supporting not just phonics development but also broader academic engagement and literacy.

Natasha

Specialist TA, Southfield Academy

Easy to Implement

It is so well-constructed, and the resources are fantastic. Pupils respond positively and it is easy to implement.

Kelley Bloemink

Literacy and Intervention Lead, Garth Hill College

Impact on pupils lives outside of school

Pupils have noticed impact on their lives outside of school. “I can now read the subtitles on my computer game” as an example of the effect on their home lives.

Joe Sumner

Literacy Lead, Bower Grove School

Easy to understand

Great to use, easy to understand and no need for hundreds of resources.

Jakki Hook

Phonics Lead, Gilbert Inglefield Academy

Join a free webinar

Want to find out more about the Little Wandle Code programme? Join us at one of our free school workshop events.

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Pricing

1-year subscription

£1,495

3-year subscription

£4,485

Special rates available

Small schools, SEND schools and Multi Academy Trusts.
Please contact us

Little Wandle Code

Reading Assessment Programme

Who's it for?

For schools who want all the features of Reading Assessment Programme plus a linked phonics intervention

For schools that want a reading assessment element alone

Fully adaptive assessments for comprehension, fluency and decoding

Year 8 test readiness reporting

Unlimited assessments for all pupils - no test credits

Standardised scores and reading ages

Comprehensive online training for all staff

Ongoing assessment and progress reporting

Fully-resourced phonics intervention

Unique 'You as a reader' survey to support reading for pleasure

Age-appropriate decodable anthologies available from Collins.

Enquire today

From £1,495

Learn more

From £295 for Primary and £645 for Secondary

FAQs

Little Wandle Code is for any struggling reader in Key Stage 3, including students with SEND and those with English as an Additional Language (EAL).

Developed with inclusivity in mind, the programme includes images, contextual sentences for new vocabulary and the repetition of key language both in the lessons and in the matched decodable texts.

Schools who took part in the three-year Little Wandle Code pilot reported that:

The highly structured approach was particularly beneficial for students with a range of SEND needs, including dyslexia.
SEND students responded especially well to the small‑group, adult‑led model.
Schools, including an SEMH special school, reported marked improvements in students’ well‑being and self‑regulation both inside and beyond the intervention.
The combined focus on phonics and language development was considered highly effective by schools with high numbers of EAL students, including recent arrivals.

The Little Wandle Code programme allows you to track a clear journey for every struggling reader from identification to intervention and then as they make progress. This starts with an initial screening assessment to use with your whole-cohort, in and whole-class format. Students flagged for support go on to take the 1:1 diagnostic assessment to work out exactly what intervention pathway will suit them best. Once students are on the correct pathway, ongoing and summative assessments give teaching staff instant results that link directly to next steps for teaching and help to track and evidence progress. For a complete overview of the Little Wandle Code assessments, including the available assessments and reporting, please refer to this table.

The intervention consists of comprehensive planning and teaching resources designed to teach phonics in an engaging, age-appropriate way.

Students are identified for the intervention through the diagnostic assessments, which place them on the correct pathway for their level of phonic knowledge:

Start the Code is suitable for students who have significant gaps in their phonic knowledge.
Grow the Code is suitable for students who have some gaps in their phonic knowledge.
Complete the Code is suitable for students who have gaps in their phonic knowledge that particularly affects their ability to read and/or spell longer, unfamiliar words.

Although the intervention’s progression is based on phonics, the lessons are also designed to improve students’ spelling, fluency and comprehension. Students’ work through the pathways. Depending on the student’s starting point, progress and the frequency of the sessions, this takes between 10 and 33 weeks.

A Little Wandle Code subscription includes:

unlimited logins (for staff and students)
a complete video-based training programme with accompanying summary handouts
initial screen, diagnostic, ongoing and summative assessments (which you can use as many times as you wish)
a fully resourced intervention programme – including scripted lessons, lesson displays and downloadable posters
phone and email support

To run the programme, you will also need to purchase books and student workbooks.

Our publishing partner, Collins, has created a complete progression of anthologies matched to the Little Wandle Code programme that have been carefully designed to motivate and engage Key Stage 3 students. Collins have also created our student workbooks. Please head to the Collins website for more information and costings.

A membership subscription to Little Wandle Code includes a comprehensive on-demand, video-based training programme, including guidance on which staff should complete which modules.

The key aims of the training are to support:

The Little Wandle Code Lead to run the programme successfully and provide appropriate support to colleagues.
Non-specialist teachers to quickly build their knowledge to deliver successful phonics interventions.
All Key Stage 3 staff to understand struggling readers and support them back in class.

Download our training overview flyer for more details.

As with all Little Wandle programmes, reading for pleasure is a key part of the Little Wandle Code pedagogy. Read the full report or two-page executive summary of our research with The Open University to see the influence of Little Wandle Code on reading for pleasure at our pilot schools.

All aspects of the programme support students to experience the joy of reading, as they develop their reading fluency.

This starts with our whole-cohort initial screen, which includes a ‘You as a Reader’ report to inform the development of your reading for pleasure culture across Key Stage 3.

For those students on the intervention, listening to books being read, reading along and discussing what they’ve heard is part of the weekly structure of each of the Start, Complete and Grow pathways. The programme includes an optional selection of Barrington Stoke books to support reading for pleasure. Find out more about these books on the Collins website.

Little Wandle Code is designed to support students with their phonic knowledge. However, it does this in a way that targets fluency and comprehension as well. This is done through the integration of the decodable texts in the programme and scripted lessons which provide clear instruction on reading with prosody and support teachers to improve fluency through modelled and repeated reading. Students in the pilot have made accelerated progress in both their decoding ability and their fluency.