Key Stage 3 · ages 11 to 14
Key Stage 3 English: what your child learns
In Years 7 to 9 pupils read widely, including two Shakespeare plays, pre-1914 and contemporary works, poetry and world literature. At least two authors are studied in depth each year, and pupils write essays, stories, scripts and arguments, plan and edit for audience and purpose, and give speeches and join debates in Standard English. Your teenager also learns to discuss language using terms such as register and figurative language.
Guides for parents
Key Stage 3 English
Standard English and register
What Key Stage 3 pupils learn about Standard English, formal and informal registers, spoken and written language and the terms used to discuss them.
Key Stage 3 English
Grammar in challenging texts and for effect
How Key Stage 3 pupils analyse the grammar of difficult texts, explain its effect on the reader and use new constructions in their own writing, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 English
Understanding challenging texts
How Key Stage 3 pupils tackle harder texts: working out new words, making inferences with evidence, spotting purpose and audience, and checking understanding.
Key Stage 3 English
Reading critically: language and structure
How Key Stage 3 pupils read critically: how writers use language, poetic conventions, setting, plot and character to create effects, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 English
Drama, comparison and authors
How Key Stage 3 pupils study plays as performance, compare texts critically and read at least two authors in depth each year, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 English
Reading widely: Shakespeare and beyond
What Key Stage 3 pupils read: two Shakespeare plays, English literature from before 1914 and today, world literature, and how to keep teenagers reading.
Key Stage 3 English
Improvising and performing scripts and poetry
How Key Stage 3 pupils improvise, rehearse and perform play scripts and poetry, using voice, tone, silence and movement to bring out meaning, with a worked example.
Key Stage 3 English
Speeches, presentations and debates
How Key Stage 3 pupils learn to give short speeches, present ideas, take part in formal debates and discuss in Standard English, with a worked example and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 English
Organising and rhetorical devices
How Key Stage 3 pupils organise material, summarise, choose the right form and use literary and rhetorical devices to make their writing more effective.
Key Stage 3 English
Drafting, editing and proofreading
How Key Stage 3 pupils plan, draft, edit and proofread their writing for a particular audience and purpose, with a worked example, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Key Stage 3 English
Writing for different purposes
What Key Stage 3 writing involves: formal essays, stories, scripts and poetry, talks, arguments and letters, written accurately, fluently and at length.
Everything in the Key Stage 3 English curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Key Stage 3, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.