Key Stage 2 · Year 3 · ages 7 or 8
Year 3 English: what your child learns
In Year 3 children read fiction, myths and non-fiction, begin writing in paragraphs with headings, and learn to join their handwriting. Grammar covers prefixes, a or an, conjunctions and prepositions that show time, place and cause, the present perfect and inverted commas for direct speech. Spelling brings prefixes, suffixes and the Years 3 and 4 word list, alongside practice at explaining ideas aloud.
Guides for parents
Year 3 English
Time, place and cause
How Year 3 children use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to show when, where and why things happen, with a worked example, common mistakes and ideas for home.
Year 3 English
Paragraphs, headings and the present perfect
How Year 3 children group ideas into paragraphs, use headings and sub-headings, and learn the present perfect (has gone, have eaten), with a worked example and tips.
Year 3 English
Speech marks and direct speech
How Year 3 children learn to use inverted commas (speech marks) around the exact words someone says, with a worked example, common mistakes and easy ways to practise.
Year 3 English
Prefixes, a or an, and word families
What Year 3 children learn about prefixes that make new nouns, choosing a or an, and word families, with the grammar terms they use and ideas for practising at home.
Everything in the Year 3 English curriculum
The National Curriculum topics for Year 3, in the order the National Curriculum lists them.
Spoken language
- Listening, questioning and collaborative talk (Years 3 and 4)
- Explaining, justifying and exploring ideas (Years 3 and 4)
- Presenting, performing and debating (Years 3 and 4)
Reading – word reading
- Using root words, prefixes and suffixes to read new words (Years 3 and 4)
Reading – comprehension
- Reading widely: fiction, myths, legends and non-fiction (Years 3 and 4)
- Performing poems and plays; powerful words (Years 3 and 4)
- Inference, questioning and prediction (Years 3 and 4)
- Main ideas, text structure and retrieving information (Years 3 and 4)
Writing – transcription (spelling)
- Prefixes, suffixes, homophones and often-misspelt words (Years 3 and 4)
- Plural possessive apostrophes, dictionaries and dictation (Years 3 and 4)
Writing – handwriting
- Joining letters and improving legibility (Years 3 and 4)
Writing – composition
- Planning by learning from model texts (Years 3 and 4)
- Drafting: sentences, paragraphs, settings, characters and plot (Years 3 and 4)
- Evaluating, editing, proofreading and reading aloud (Years 3 and 4)
Writing – vocabulary, grammar and punctuation
Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation – English Appendix 2
Spelling – English Appendix 1
- Adding suffixes to longer words; –ation and –ly (Years 3 and 4)
- y for /ɪ/, ou for /ʌ/ and more prefixes (Years 3 and 4)
- Endings –sure, –ture, –sion, –ous, –tion, –ssion and –cian (Years 3 and 4)
- Spellings from Greek, French and Latin; ei, eigh and ey (Years 3 and 4)
- Plural possessive apostrophe and homophones (Years 3 and 4)
- Statutory word list years 3 and 4: accident to difficult (Years 3 and 4)
- Statutory word list years 3 and 4: disappear to important (Years 3 and 4)
- Statutory word list years 3 and 4: interest to potatoes (Years 3 and 4)
- Statutory word list years 3 and 4: pressure to woman (Years 3 and 4)