What are the statutory Year 4 writing objectives?

For composition, transcription and handwriting, the national curriculum sets out a single programme of study for lower key stage 2 (Years 3 and 4), which must be taught by the end of Year 4 — so there is no separate statutory Year 4 composition list. For grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, English Appendix 2 is year-by-year statutory, and Year 4 has its own content: fronted adverbials and the commas after them, expanded noun phrases, paragraphs organised around a theme, pronoun and noun choice for cohesion, plural possessive apostrophes, fully punctuated direct speech, the difference between plural and possessive –s, and Standard English verb forms.

What is a fronted adverbial, and why is it everywhere?

A fronted adverbial is an adverbial phrase moved to the start of a sentence — “Later that day, I heard the bad news.” It appears in the Year 4 statutory grammar, and it is easy to teach, easy to spot and easy to count, which is why it has become the most over-used device in primary writing. The requirement is that children can use it; good writing uses it when the sentence benefits and not otherwise. Writing where every sentence opens with one is a symptom of the device being taught as a target.

How do you punctuate direct speech in Year 4?

The Year 4 requirement is inverted commas “and other punctuation” to indicate direct speech. In practice that means: a comma after the reporting clause when it comes first (The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”), the spoken words enclosed in inverted commas, and the end punctuation — full stop, question mark or exclamation mark — placed inside the closing inverted comma. Most Year 4 errors are in the surrounding punctuation rather than the inverted commas themselves.

Is Year 4 writing assessed nationally?

No. There is no statutory writing assessment or moderation in Year 4, and no national standard for a Year 4 writer. (Year 4 does have the statutory multiplication tables check, but that is maths and has no writing equivalent.) Year 4 writing is assessed internally through the school’s own tracking, book scrutiny and internal moderation.

When should the plural possessive apostrophe be used?

The Year 4 statutory content asks children to mark plural possession — ‘the girls’ names’, where several girls have names — as distinct from singular possession, ‘the girl’s name’. Irregular plurals take an apostrophe followed by s (‘the children’s coats’). The underlying concept, also Year 4 content, is the grammatical difference between a plural –s and a possessive –s, which is what stops children putting an apostrophe into every word ending in s.

Lower key stage 2

Year 4 writing: objectives, expectations and what to look for

Year 4 is the year of the fronted adverbial — and the year it starts getting overused. Here are the statutory objectives, the Year 4 grammar and punctuation, annotated exemplars, and what to look for in the books.

Last updated: July 2026

Year 4 writing at a glance

Year 4 completes lower key stage 2. By the end of it, the whole lower-KS2 programme of study must have been taught: paragraphs organised around a theme, settings, characters and plot in narrative, organisational devices in non-narrative, and editing that improves consistency rather than merely correcting errors. Year 4’s own statutory grammar adds fronted adverbials (and the commas after them), plural possessive apostrophes, expanded noun phrases, correctly punctuated direct speech, and pronoun choice for cohesion.

It is also the year where a specific bad habit takes root. Fronted adverbials are so easily taught, so easily spotted and so easily counted that they become a target rather than a tool — and writing that opens every sentence with one is worse writing, not better. A Year 4 teacher’s real job is to teach the device and then teach restraint.

The statutory writing objectives

These are the statutory writing requirements for lower key stage 2, quoted from the national curriculum. They are shared with Year 3 — but they must all be taught by the end of Year 4.

A note on what is statutory for this year. The national curriculum sets out the key stage 2 programmes of study two-yearly: the requirements below cover lower key stage 2 (Years 3 and 4) together, and schools are required to have taught them by the end of Year 4. There is therefore no separate statutory “Year 4 composition” list — but English Appendix 2, in the next section, IS statutory for Year 4 specifically.

Transcription — spelling

Use further prefixes and suffixes, and understand how to add them (English Appendix 1)
Spell further homophones, and words that are often misspelt
Place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals (girls’, boys’) and in words with irregular plurals (children’s)
Use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary
Write from memory simple sentences, dictated by the teacher, that include words and punctuation taught so far

Transcription — handwriting

Use the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters, and understand which letters, when adjacent, are best left unjoined
Increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting — downstrokes parallel and equidistant, lines spaced so ascenders and descenders do not touch

Composition

Plan by discussing and learning from the structure, vocabulary and grammar of similar writing, and by discussing and recording ideas
Draft and write by composing and rehearsing sentences orally (including dialogue), building a varied and rich vocabulary and an increasing range of sentence structures
Organise paragraphs around a theme
In narratives, create settings, characters and plot
In non-narrative material, use simple organisational devices such as headings and sub-headings
Evaluate and edit: assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and suggest improvements, propose changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency (including the accurate use of pronouns), and proofread for spelling and punctuation errors
Read their own writing aloud to a group or the whole class, controlling tone and volume so the meaning is clear

Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Extend the range of sentences with more than one clause using a wider range of conjunctions, including when, if, because and although
Use the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion, and to avoid repetition
Use conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause
Use fronted adverbials, and commas after them
Indicate possession using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
Use and punctuate direct speech

Year 4 grammar and punctuation (English Appendix 2)

English Appendix 2 is statutory for Year 4 specifically — unlike the phase-level composition requirements above. This is the Year 4 content in full.

Area	Detail of content to be introduced in Year 4
Word	The grammatical difference between plural and possessive –s Standard English forms for verb inflections instead of local spoken forms (‘we were’ instead of ‘we was’; ‘I did’ instead of ‘I done’)
Sentence	Noun phrases expanded by the addition of modifying adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases (‘the teacher’ expanded to ‘the strict maths teacher with curly hair’) Fronted adverbials (‘Later that day, I heard the bad news.’)
Text	Use of paragraphs to organise ideas around a theme Appropriate choice of pronoun or noun within and across sentences to aid cohesion and avoid repetition
Punctuation	Use of inverted commas and other punctuation to indicate direct speech — a comma after the reporting clause, and end punctuation within inverted commas (The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”) Apostrophes to mark plural possession (the girl’s name; the girls’ names) Use of commas after fronted adverbials

Terminology for Year 4 pupils

These are the terms Year 4 pupils are expected to know and use when discussing their own writing — introduced this year, on top of everything from previous years.

determinerpronounpossessive pronounadverbial

What “on track” means in Year 4

Synthesised by Howay — not a DfE framework

Synthesised by Howay from the statutory lower key stage 2 programme of study and English Appendix 2 (Year 4). This is not a DfE framework — no teacher assessment framework exists for Year 4, and none of the wording below is quoted from one.

There is no teacher assessment framework for Year 4. What follows is a synthesis of the lower key stage 2 programme of study and the Year 4 Appendix 2 content, arranged the way schools tend to track it. It is a teaching aid, and the wording is ours.

Working towards age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

paragraph inconsistently, sometimes grouping related material and sometimes breaking mid-theme
use fronted adverbials, but omit the comma after them
punctuate direct speech partially — inverted commas present, but the reporting-clause comma or the end punctuation inside the commas missing
repeat nouns where a pronoun would carry the meaning more cleanly
apply the possessive apostrophe to singular nouns securely, but not to plurals

Meeting age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

organise paragraphs around a theme across a whole piece
use fronted adverbials with commas, and vary sentence openings without relying on them
punctuate direct speech accurately, including the comma after the reporting clause and end punctuation inside the inverted commas
expand noun phrases with modifying adjectives, nouns and preposition phrases
choose nouns and pronouns to aid cohesion and avoid repetition within and across sentences
use the plural possessive apostrophe correctly, and Standard English verb forms in place of local spoken forms
propose changes to their own writing to improve consistency, not just to fix errors

Exceeding age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

vary sentence structure for effect, choosing when a fronted adverbial helps and when it merely delays
sustain cohesion across paragraphs, not just within them
use dialogue to advance the story rather than to decorate it
select vocabulary for precision rather than for ambition
edit substantively — cutting, reordering and rewriting, not just correcting

If your school records Year 4 as WTS/EXS/GDS, that is a local tracking convention. Those labels have a national definition only at the end of key stage 1 and the end of key stage 2.

What it looks like on the page

The passages below were written for this page to illustrate the criteria. They are not children’s work, and they are annotated against curriculum expectations only — strengths and next steps, not marks or scores.

Working towards age-related expectations

Illustrative passage written for this page — not a child’s work

Suddenly the alarm rang. Quickly Maya grabbed her bag. Slowly she opened the door. Nervously she looked down the corridor. It was empty. “Where is everyone” she said. The teachers coats were still on the pegs.

What this shows against the curriculum

Fronted adverbials are present but the commas after them are missing — the Year 4 punctuation requirement.
Four of the seven sentences open with a fronted adverbial, in the same position and the same rhythm. The device has been learned; the judgement about when to use it has not.
Direct speech has inverted commas, but the question mark is missing from inside the closing inverted comma — the Year 4 requirement is inverted commas “and other punctuation” to indicate direct speech. (No comma after a reporting clause is needed here, because the reporting clause follows the speech rather than introducing it.)
“The teachers coats” needs a plural possessive apostrophe — teachers’ — which is Year 4 Appendix 2 content still being acquired.

Meeting age-related expectations

Illustrative passage written for this page — not a child’s work

The alarm rang at exactly nine o’clock. Maya grabbed her bag and pushed open the classroom door.

The corridor was empty. The teachers’ coats still hung on their pegs, and someone’s lunchbox lay on its side by the office.

“Where is everyone?” she whispered.

Later that morning, when the police arrived, she would remember the lunchbox first.

What this shows against the curriculum

The fronted adverbial (‘Later that morning,’) is used once, with its comma, and where it genuinely serves the writing — the point of the device.
Direct speech is fully punctuated: inverted commas, question mark inside them.
The plural possessive apostrophe in “the teachers’ coats” is correct, and distinguished from the singular in “someone’s lunchbox”.
Paragraphs are organised around a theme, and pronouns carry cohesion across sentences without repetitive naming.

Exceeding age-related expectations

Illustrative passage written for this page — not a child’s work

The alarm rang at exactly nine o’clock, which was strange, because the alarm was never tested on a Tuesday.

Maya took her bag anyway. In the corridor, the teachers’ coats hung in their usual row, and someone’s lunchbox lay on its side by the office door, with an apple rolled halfway to the stairs.

“Where is everyone?” she whispered. Nobody answered.

Later, when the police came, it was the apple she remembered — the small green apple, lying still on a floor where nothing else was.

What this shows against the curriculum

Cohesion is sustained across paragraphs, not just within them: the apple is planted and then returned to, holding the piece together.
Sentence structure varies for effect — a long, subordinated opening sentence, a line of dialogue answered by a two-word sentence, and a closing sentence that slows deliberately.
The expanded noun phrase (‘the small green apple, lying still on a floor where nothing else was’) does real work rather than decorating.
The writing shows the influence of reading in its structure and its withholding, which is the direction of travel towards the key stage 2 greater-depth statements.

Moderation and what to look for in the books

Year 4 is not externally moderated, but it is the year where the evidence habits that carry a school through Year 6 are either built or lost. What internal moderation should be looking for:

Check the whole lower-KS2 programme has been covered

Because the programme of study is written for Years 3 and 4 together, the end of Year 4 is the statutory deadline for all of it. This is the moment to check the gaps — often non-narrative organisational devices, or editing that goes beyond proofreading — rather than discovering them in Year 5.

Count fronted adverbials — and be alarmed if there are many

A quick, useful book-scrutiny move: read a page and count how many sentences open with a fronted adverbial. If it is most of them, the class has probably been taught the device without the judgement, and the writing is worse for it.

Look at editing, not just proofreading

The lower-KS2 requirement is to assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing and propose changes to grammar and vocabulary to improve consistency. A book full of corrected spellings shows proofreading. A book where a sentence has been crossed out and rewritten better shows editing. The second is the objective.

Independence, before it matters

There is no statutory judgement in Year 4, so there is no pressure — which makes it the ideal year to establish that a proportion of writing each half-term is done with no model, no word bank and no adult prompting. Schools that do this arrive at Year 6 with an evidence base rather than a panic.

Common pitfalls in Year 4 writing

The fronted-adverbial trap. Fronted adverbials are among the most over-taught devices in primary writing. The Appendix 2 requirement is that pupils can use them — not that they should use them constantly. Writing that opens every sentence with ‘Suddenly,’ or ‘Without warning,’ reads worse than writing that does not, and a moderator or a secondary teacher will see it instantly. Teach the comma, then teach the restraint.
Direct speech punctuated halfway. Year 3 introduces inverted commas; Year 4 adds “inverted commas and other punctuation” — the comma after the reporting clause, and end punctuation inside the inverted commas. Most Year 4 errors are in the ‘other punctuation’, not the inverted commas themselves. It is worth teaching the whole pattern as one unit.
Plural possession taught as an apostrophe rule. The Year 4 word-level requirement is “the grammatical difference between plural and possessive –s” — a concept, not a placement rule. Children who learn “apostrophe after the s for plurals” without understanding the difference produce ‘the dog’s barked’ and ‘two apple’s’ with equal confidence.
Success criteria that become checklists. A list of features to include (two fronted adverbials, one expanded noun phrase, some direct speech) reliably produces writing that contains those features and nothing else. The composition objectives — settings, characters, plot, organisation around a theme — are the writing; the Appendix 2 features are how it is built.

Where Howay fits

Noticing what a piece of writing shows — and noticing it across a whole class, all year — is the part that takes the evenings. That is the layer Howay surfaces: a teacher photographs the handwritten page, and Howay returns a criteria-level view of what the writing shows against the frameworks teachers already use, with strengths and next steps rather than a number. The teacher edits everything before anyone else sees it.

It does not make the assessment judgement — that stays with the teacher. What it does is make the evidence easier to see and to articulate, piece by piece. See Howay for teachers or Howay for parents.

Common questions

What are the statutory Year 4 writing objectives?: For composition, transcription and handwriting, the national curriculum sets out a single programme of study for lower key stage 2 (Years 3 and 4), which must be taught by the end of Year 4 — so there is no separate statutory Year 4 composition list. For grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, English Appendix 2 is year-by-year statutory, and Year 4 has its own content: fronted adverbials and the commas after them, expanded noun phrases, paragraphs organised around a theme, pronoun and noun choice for cohesion, plural possessive apostrophes, fully punctuated direct speech, the difference between plural and possessive –s, and Standard English verb forms.
What is a fronted adverbial, and why is it everywhere?: A fronted adverbial is an adverbial phrase moved to the start of a sentence — “Later that day, I heard the bad news.” It appears in the Year 4 statutory grammar, and it is easy to teach, easy to spot and easy to count, which is why it has become the most over-used device in primary writing. The requirement is that children can use it; good writing uses it when the sentence benefits and not otherwise. Writing where every sentence opens with one is a symptom of the device being taught as a target.
How do you punctuate direct speech in Year 4?: The Year 4 requirement is inverted commas “and other punctuation” to indicate direct speech. In practice that means: a comma after the reporting clause when it comes first (The conductor shouted, “Sit down!”), the spoken words enclosed in inverted commas, and the end punctuation — full stop, question mark or exclamation mark — placed inside the closing inverted comma. Most Year 4 errors are in the surrounding punctuation rather than the inverted commas themselves.
Is Year 4 writing assessed nationally?: No. There is no statutory writing assessment or moderation in Year 4, and no national standard for a Year 4 writer. (Year 4 does have the statutory multiplication tables check, but that is maths and has no writing equivalent.) Year 4 writing is assessed internally through the school’s own tracking, book scrutiny and internal moderation.
When should the plural possessive apostrophe be used?: The Year 4 statutory content asks children to mark plural possession — ‘the girls’ names’, where several girls have names — as distinct from singular possession, ‘the girl’s name’. Irregular plurals take an apostrophe followed by s (‘the children’s coats’). The underlying concept, also Year 4 content, is the grammatical difference between a plural –s and a possessive –s, which is what stops children putting an apostrophe into every word ending in s.

Sources

Statutory curriculum and framework wording quoted on this page is Crown copyright, reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

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