Years 5 and 6 English · Key Stage 2 · Writing – handwriting and presentation

Years 5 and 6 handwriting: speed, joins and presentation

By Years 5 and 6, handwriting is no longer about learning letter shapes. Children are expected to write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed, to make their own choices about letter shapes and joins, and to choose the writing tool that suits the job. A child whose handwriting is fast and automatic can put their thinking into what they say, which makes handwriting a quiet but real support for writing, note-taking and maths.

Handwriting and speed, explained

The aim in upper primary is fluency. When forming letters takes effort, a child has less attention left for ideas, spelling and punctuation, and they tire quickly in longer pieces of writing. When handwriting is automatic, it becomes a tool rather than a task. Teachers therefore build in regular short practice to increase speed, and they help children understand that different pieces of writing call for different standards: quick notes only need to be readable by the writer, while a final version for display or for someone else needs to be careful and consistent.

Children are taught to choose which shape of a letter to use when there are alternatives, and to decide whether or not to join particular letters. Joining is introduced in Year 2 and developed in Years 3 and 4, though some schools start earlier. By now children can see which joins flow smoothly and which are awkward or make a word harder to read, and they are allowed to adapt. The details depend on the handwriting style your child’s school has chosen. Neatness is not the target: legibility is, which means that someone else can read it easily, with letters of a consistent size, spacing and slant.

Not everything is joined. The curriculum notes (non-statutory) say that children should use an unjoined style for some tasks, such as labelling diagrams, writing email addresses and writing algebra in maths, and capital letters for others, such as filling in forms. The reasons are practical. Joins can blur letters together, so that “rn” looks like “m”, and in algebra each letter stands for a number, so it must be clear and separate from the numbers and signs around it. A form read by a stranger or a machine needs capitals in the boxes. Knowing which style to use is part of writing well.

Children also learn to choose the right writing tool. A sharp pencil is best for diagrams, drawing and maths, where mistakes are rubbed out. A pen with a good flow suits a final version or a long piece, and a fine pen helps with small labels. Many schools allow children to use a pen once their handwriting is consistently joined and legible, though practice differs from school to school and not every school has a formal system. A comfortable pencil grip, a relaxed hand and a well-positioned page help too. Left-handed children often write more easily with the page tilted slightly to the right and placed a little to the left of their body, so the hand stays below the line and they can see what they have written.

If handwriting stays very slow, tiring or hard to read despite regular practice, it is worth telling the class teacher. Some children find fine-motor control harder, and schools can offer support, such as a different grip aid, extra practice or sometimes a keyboard for longer pieces. Handwriting still matters beyond English: a 1 that looks like a 7 can lose a mark in maths, and by Year 6 children are preparing for secondary school, where they take notes at speed in nearly every lesson.

Words your child will hear

Legible: Clear enough for another person to read easily.
Fluent: Smooth and automatic, without having to stop and think how to form each letter.
Joined: Handwriting where most letters in a word are connected by small lines, sometimes called cursive.
Unjoined: Handwriting where each letter stands separately, useful for labels, forms and algebra.
Ascender: The part of a letter that rises above the main body, as in b, d, h, k and l.
Descender: The part of a letter that drops below the line, as in g, j, p, q and y.
Implement: A tool used for writing, such as a pencil, a pen or a fine-tipped marker.

What the National Curriculum says

In Years 5 and 6, pupils should be taught to:

Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters
Write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: matching handwriting to the task

Your child has four different writing jobs in one school day. How should their handwriting and writing tool differ for each?

Quick notes in science as the teacher explains. The notes only need to be readable by your child later, so speed matters most. Joined writing, a pen or pencil that runs smoothly and short forms of words are all sensible. The skill is keeping up without losing the sense.
Labels on a diagram of a plant. Each label must be easy to read at a glance and sit neatly beside a line drawn with a ruler. Unjoined letters, upright and the same size, in a sharp pencil or fine pen, work best.
A form for a school trip and an email address. Forms are filled in using capital letters in the boxes, in a pen, and an email address is written unjoined and in lower case, one letter at a time, so that letters such as “rn” and “m” cannot be confused.
```
J A M E S   P A T E L
```
The best copy of a story for a display. Here the audience is anyone who walks past, so the writing should be joined, consistent in size and slant, and written carefully in a good pen. There is no need to hurry: this is a place to show off the best handwriting.

There is no single best handwriting. Skilled writers move between fast joined notes, careful joined writing for a final version, and unjoined print or capitals when clarity matters most, and they choose a pencil or pen to match.

Common mistakes and how to help

Believing joined writing is always better and unjoined writing is babyish

Joining is taught as a mark of progress, so children assume that unjoined writing means falling behind.

What helps: Point out that adults use print for forms, labels and addresses. Choosing unjoined for clarity is a grown-up decision, not a step backwards.

Thinking neat and fast cannot go together

Children who rush often produce a scrawl, so they conclude that speed damages neatness.

What helps: Speed comes from practised, consistent shapes and joins, not from hurrying. Short regular practice, with a focus on one letter or join at a time, builds both.

Treating handwriting as only an English lesson matter

Handwriting is usually practised in English, so children forget it when they are in maths or science.

What helps: Show how it affects other subjects: digits that cannot be misread, a clear x in algebra, readable labels on diagrams. Praise legible work in any subject.

Gripping the pen hard and pressing down to make writing neat

Effort feels like care, so tight muscles seem like the right approach.

What helps: Encourage a relaxed grip and stretches between pieces of writing. A tight hand tires quickly and usually slows writing down.

How to help at home

Write real things for real readers. Shopping lists, postcards, thank-you notes and birthday cards are all good practice, because someone else will read them. A reader gives a reason to take care.
Try a one-minute speed test. Ask your child to copy a sentence as many times as they can in one minute, in their best legible handwriting. Compare it with last month’s. Count only the lines that anyone could read.
Practise the unjoined jobs. Address an envelope in capitals, write an email address in lower case, or label a drawing of the garden. These are tasks where clear print really matters.
Try different tools. Have a pencil, a smooth pen and a fine marker to hand and let your child decide which suits a list, a drawing and a letter. Ask them to explain the choice.
Warm up first. Before a long piece of writing, make large loops and patterns on paper or in the air to loosen the hand. Sit upright with both feet on the floor and the page at a comfortable angle.

Builds on

Years 3 and 4: Joined handwriting and legibility

Leads on to

Key Stage 3: Writing for different purposes
Key Stage 3: Organising and rhetorical devices
Key Stage 3: Drafting, editing and proofreading

Everything in Years 5 and 6 English

Updated 20 October 2026.