The cost of our training courses varies from place to place, which is because many Sounds~Write courses are sponsored by a local authority or school.  Our courses typically cost around £400 per person (plus £42 VAT, which schools can reclaim).   To find out the exact cost of any given course, please contact us.  The fee includes all the materials needed to teach Sounds~Write: as well as the four or five days of training, each trainee also receives a copy of the Sounds~Write manual (see illustrations). This is a sizeable, 222-page folder, containing all the lesson plans, word lists and stories necessary to follow the programme. In addition the manual includes a CD-ROM of support materials which can be printed out whenever needed.

We try to arrange courses to meet demand.  If there are a number of people at your school who would like to train, but no courses nearby, it would be worth contacting us to see if a course can be arranged.  If it is possible for the course to be held onsite, depending on numbers, this of course can result in a considerable reduction in cost.

Match-funding for systematic synthetic phonics training

Sounds-Write courses qualify for match funding from the Department for Education, whereby schools can reclaim 50% of the cost of our courses. For more details, see this page on the DfE’s site. All state-funded schools in England with Key Stage 1 and/or Key Stage 2 pupils, including Academies and Free Schools are eligible for this funding, which will provide a maximum contribution from the DfE of £3,000 per institution.

The current match-funding arrangement ends on 31st October 2013. Schools can claim match-funding for our courses from the current fund so long as the last day of the course is 31st October 2013 or earlier. Claims need to be submitted by 30th November 2013 – any later and they may not be paid.