The links below set out what children should know and be able to do at the end of each year group in the core areas of English and Mathematics. We hope this information is useful in helping you to support your child at home with their learning.

Reception

By the end of Reception, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Read some common irregular words.
  • Use phonic knowledge to decode regular words and read aloud accurately.
  • Identify rhymes and alliteration.
  • Join in with rhyming patterns.
  • Read and understand simple sentences.
  • Demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.
  • Make basic predictions.
  • Identify start and end of a sentence.

Writing

  • Write simple sentences which can be read by themselves and others.
  • Use capital letters and full stops to demarcate sentences.
  • Write demarcated sentences.
  • Use correct pencil grip.
  • Write name (correct upper and lower case).
  • Use correct letter formation for familiar words.

Mathematics

  • Count reliably to 20.
  • Order numbers 1 – 20.
  • Say 1 more/1 less to 20.
  • Add and subtract two single digit numbers.
  • Count on/back to find the answer.

Year 1

By the end of Year 1, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Identify which words appear again and again.
  • Recognise and join in with predictable phrases.
  • Relate reading to own experiences.
  • Re-read if reading does not make sense.
  • Re-tell with considerable accuracy.
  • Discuss significance of title and events.
  • Make predictions on basis of what has been read.
  • Make inferences on basis of what is being said and done.
  • Know difference between fiction and nonfiction texts.
  • Read aloud with pace and expression, i.e. pause at full stop; raise voice for question.
  • Recognise: capitals letters; full stops; question marks; exclamation marks
  • Know why the writer has used the above punctuation in a text.

Writing

  • Write clearly demarcated sentences.
  • Use ‘and’ to join ideas.
  • Use conjunctions to join sentences (e.g. so, but).
  • Use standard forms of verbs, e.g. go/went.
  • Introduce use of: o capital letters o full stops o question marks o exclamation marks
  • Use capital letters for names and personal pronoun ‘I’.
  • Write a sequence of sentences to form a short narrative [as introduction to paragraphs]. 
  • Use correct formation of lower case – finishing in right place.
  • Use correct formation of capital letters.
  • Use correct formation of digits.

Mathematics

  • Count to and across 100, forwards & backwards from any number.
  • Read and write numbers to 20 in numerals & words.
  • Read and write numbers to 100 in numerals.
  • Say 1 more/1 less to 100.
  • Count in multiples of 2, 5 & 10.
  • Use bonds and subtraction facts to 20.
  • Add & subtract 1 digit & 2 digit numbers to 20, including zero.
  • Solve one-step multiplication and division using objects, pictorial representation and arrays.
  • Recognise half and quarter of object, shape or quantity.
  • Sequence events in chronological order.
  • Use language of day, week, month and year.

Year 2

By the end of Year 2, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Secure with year group phonic expectations.
  • Recognise simple recurring literary language.
  • Read ahead to help with fluency and expression.
  • Comment on plot, setting and characters in familiar and unfamiliar stories.
  • Recount main themes and events.
  • Comment on structure of the text.
  • Use commas, question marks and exclamation marks to vary expression.
  • Read aloud with expression and intonation.
  • Recognise: commas in lists; apostrophe of omission and possession (singular noun)
  • Identify past/present tense and why the writer has used a tense.
  • Use content and index to locate information.

Writing

  • Write different kinds of sentence: statement, question, exclamation, command.
  • Use expanded noun phrases to add description and specification.
  • Write using subordination (when, if, that, because) and co-ordination (or, and, but).
  • Correct and consistent use of present tense and past tense.
  • Correct use of verb tenses.
  • Write with correct and consistent use of: capital letters; full stops; question marks; exclamation marks
  • Use commas in a list.
  • Use apostrophe to mark omission and singular possession in nouns.
  • Write under headings.
  • Write lower case letters correct size relative to one another.
  • Show evidence of diagonal and horizontal strokes to join handwriting

Mathematics

  • Compare and order numbers up to 100 and use < > =.
  • Read and write all numbers to 100 in digits & words.
  • Say 10 more/less than any number to 100.
  • Count in steps of 2, 3 & 5 from zero and in 10s from any number (forwards and backwards).
  • Recall and use multiplication & division facts for 2, 5 & 10 tables.
  • Recall and use +/- facts to 20.
  • Derive and use related facts to 100.
  • Recognise place value of any 2-digit number.
  • Add & subtract: 2-digit nos & ones; 2-digit nos & tens; two 2-digit nos; three 1-digit nos
  • Recognise and use inverse (+/-).
  • Calculate and write multiplication & division calculations using multiplication tables.
  • Recognise, find, name and write 1/3; 1/4; 2/4; 3/4.
  • Write and recognise equivalence of simple fractions.
  • Tell time to five minutes, including quarter past/to

Year 3

By the end of Year 3, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Comment on the way characters relate to one another.
  •  Know which words are essential in a sentence to retain meaning.
  • Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions.
  • Recognise how commas are used to give more meaning.
  • Recognise inverted commas
  • Recognise: plurals; pronouns and how used; collective nouns; adverbs
  • Explain the difference that the precise choice of adjectives and verbs make.

Writing

  • Use conjunctions (when, so, before, after, while, because).
  • Use adverbs (e.g. then, next, soon).
  • Use prepositions (e.g. before, after, during, in, because of).
  • Experiment with adjectives to create impact.
  • Correctly use verbs in 1st, 2nd and 3rd person.
  • Use perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause.
  • Use inverted commas to punctuate direct speech.
  • Group ideas into basic paragraphs.
  • Write under headings and sub-headings.
  • Write with increasing legibility, consistency and fluency.

Mathematics

  • Compare and order numbers up to 1000.
  • Read and write all numbers to 1000 in digits and words.
  • Find 10 or 100 more/less than a given number.
  • Count from 0 in multiples of 4, 8, 50 and 100.
  • Recall & use multiplication & division facts for 3, 4, 8 tables.
  • Recognise place value of any 3-digit number.
  • Add and subtract: 3-digit nos and ones; 3-digit nos and tens; 3-digit nos and hundreds
  • Add and subtract: numbers with up to 3-digits using written columnar method.
  • Estimate and use inverse to check.
  • Multiply: 2-digit by 1-digit
  • Count up/down in tenths.
  • Compare and order fractions with same denominator.
  • Add and subtract fractions with same denominator within 1 whole.
  • Tell time using 12 and 24 hour clocks; and using Roman numerals.
  • Tell time to nearest minute.
  • Know number of days in each month and number of seconds in a minute

Year 4

By the end of Year 4, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Give a personal point of view on a text.
  • Re-explain a text with confidence.
  • Justify inferences with evidence, predicting what might happen from detail stated or implied.
  • Use appropriate voices for characters within a story.
  • Recognise apostrophe of possession (plural)
  • Identify how sentence type can be changed by altering word order, tenses, adding/deleting words or amending punctuation.
  • Explain why a writer has used different sentence types or a particular word order and the effect it has created.
  • Skim and scan to locate information and/or answer a question.

Writing

  • Vary sentence structure, using different openers.
  • Use adjectival phrases (e.g. biting cold wind).
  • Use appropriate choice of noun or pronoun.
  • Use fronted adverbials.
  • Use apostrophe for plural possession.
  • Use a comma after fronted adverbial (e.g. Later that day, I heard bad news.).
  • Use commas to mark clauses.
  • Use inverted commas and other punctuation to punctuate direct speech.
  • Use paragraphs to organised ideas around a theme.
  • Use connecting adverbs to link paragraphs.
  • Write with increasing legibility, consistency and fluency.

Mathematics

  • Count backwards through zero to include negative numbers.
  • Compare and order numbers beyond 1,000.
  • Compare and order numbers with up to 2 decimal places.
  • Read Roman numerals to 100.
  • Find 1,000 more/less than a given number.
  • Count in multiples of 6, 7, 9, 25 and 1000.
  • Recall and use multiplication and division facts all tables to 12×12.
  • Recognise place value of any 4-digit number.
  • Round any number to the nearest 10, 100 or 1,000.
  • Round decimals with 1dp to nearest whole number. #
  • Add and subtract numbers with up to 4-digits using written column method.
  • Multiply: 2-digit by 1-digit; 3-digit by 1-digit
  • Count up/down in hundredths.
  • Recognise and write equivalent fractions
  • Add and subtract fractions with same denominator.
  • Read, write and convert time between analogue and digital 12 and 24 hour clocks

Year 5

By the end of Year 5, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Summarise main points of an argument or discussion within their reading and make up own mind about issue/s.
  • Compare between two texts
  • Appreciate that people use bias in persuasive writing.
  • Appreciate how two people may have a different view on the same event.
  • Draw inferences and justify with evidence from the text.
  • Vary voice for direct or indirect speech.
  • Recognise clauses within sentences.
  • Explain how and why a writer has used clauses to add information to a sentence.
  • Use more than one source when carrying out research.
  • Create a set of notes to summarise what has been read.

Writing

  • Add phrases to make sentences more precise and detailed.
  • Use range of sentence openers – judging the impact or effect needed.
  • Begin to adapt sentence structure to text type.
  • Use pronouns to avoid repetition.
  • Indicate degrees of possibility using adverbs (e.g. perhaps, surely) or modal verbs (e.g. might, should, will).
  • Use the following to indicate parenthesis: brackets; dashes; comma
  • Use commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity.
  • Link clauses in sentences using a range of subordinating and coordinating conjunctions.
  • Use verb phrases to create subtle differences (e.g. she began to run).
  • Consistently organise into paragraphs.
  • Link ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time (e.g. later), place (e.g. nearby) and number (e.g. secondly).
  • Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed.

Mathematics

  • Count forwards and backward with positive and negative numbers through zero.
  • Count forwards/backwards in steps of powers of 10 for any given number up to 1,000,000.
  • Compare and order numbers up to 1,000,000.
  • Compare and order numbers with 3 decimal places.
  • Read Roman numerals to 1,000.
  • Identify all multiples and factors, including finding all factor pairs.
  • Use known tables to derive other number facts.
  • Recall prime numbers up to 19.
  • Recognise and use square numbers and cube numbers.
  • Recognise place value of any number up to 1,000,000.
  • Round any number up to 1,000,000 to the nearest 10, 100, 1000, 10,000 or 100,000.
  • Round decimals with 2 decimal places to nearest whole number and 1 decimal place.
  • Add and subtract numbers with more than 4-digits using formal written method.
  • Use rounding to check answers.
  • Multiply 4-digits by 1-digit/ 2-digit
  • Divide up to 4-digits by 1-digit
  • Multiply and divide whole numbers and decimals by 10, 100 and 1,000
  • Recognise and use thousandths.
  • Recognise mixed numbers and improper fractions and convert from one to another.
  • Multiply proper fractions and mixed numbers by whole numbers.
  • Identify and write equivalent fractions.
  • Solve time problems using timetables and converting between different units of time

Year 6

By the end of Year 6, children who are working at age related expectations should be able to:

Reading

  • Refer to text to support opinions and predictions.
  • Give a view about choice of vocabulary, structure, etc.
  • Distinguish between fact and opinion.
  • Appreciate how a set of sentences has been arranged to create maximum effect.
  • Recognise: complex sentences with more than one subordinate clause; phrases which add detail to sentences
  • Explain how a writer has used sentences to create particular effects.
  • Skim and scan to aide note-taking.

Writing

  • Use subordinate clauses to write complex sentences.
  • Use passive voice where appropriate.
  • Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely (e.g. The fact that it was raining meant the end of sports day).
  • Use a sentence structure and layout matched to requirements of text type.
  • Use semi-colon, colon or dash to mark the boundary between independent clauses.
  • Use colon to introduce a list and semi colon within a list.
  • Use correct punctuation of bullet points.
  • Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity.
  • Use full range of punctuation matched to requirements of text type.
  • Use wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs.
  • Use paragraphs to signal change in time, scene, action, mood or person.
  • Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed.

Mathematics

  • Use negative numbers in context and calculate intervals across zero.
  • Compare and order numbers up to 10,000,000.
  • Identify common factors, common multiples and prime numbers.
  • Round any whole number to a required degree of accuracy.
  • Identify the value of each digit to 3 decimal places.
  • Use knowledge of order of operations to carry out calculations involving four operations.
  • Multiply 4-digit by 2-digit
  • Divide 4-digit by 2-digit
  • Add and subtract fractions with different denominators and mixed numbers.
  • Multiply simple pairs of proper fractions, writing the answer in the simplest form.
  • Divide proper fractions by whole numbers.
  • Calculate percentage of whole number

National Assessments Information

Across their time in primary education, children will take part in a range of standardised assessment activities which are set by the Department for Education. Further information about the assessments, including dates when the assessments will take place, can be found below:

Reception Baseline Assessment Information for Parents

Year 1 Phonics Screening Check Information for Parents

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check Information for Parents

Year 6 KS2 National Curriculum Tests Information for Parents

Assessment Dates 2024-25