What are the statutory Year 5 writing objectives?

For composition, transcription and handwriting, the national curriculum sets out a single programme of study for upper key stage 2 (Years 5 and 6), which need only be taught by the end of Year 6 — so there is no separate statutory Year 5 composition list. For grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, English Appendix 2 is year-by-year statutory, and Year 5 has its own content: relative clauses, modal verbs and adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility, devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs, brackets, dashes or commas for parenthesis, commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity, converting nouns and adjectives into verbs with suffixes, and verb prefixes.

Is Year 5 writing assessed against the KS2 framework?

Not formally. The teacher assessment framework applies at the end of key stage 2 — that is, at the end of Year 6. Many schools do read Year 5 writing against the framework’s expected-standard statements as a diagnostic, to see what needs teaching in Year 6, and that is a sensible use of it. What it should not be is a recorded judgement: the standard describes a child at the end of the key stage, not a year early.

What is a relative clause, and what does Year 5 need to do with it?

A relative clause adds information about a noun, and begins with who, which, where, when, whose or that — or with the relative pronoun omitted entirely (‘the book I read’ rather than ‘the book that I read’). Year 5 is where it becomes statutory content. The important part is not identifying them but punctuating them: a non-defining relative clause is parenthesis, and needs commas, brackets or dashes around it.

How should Year 5 be preparing for Year 6 writing?

By writing a lot, independently, across a genuine range of purposes, forms and audiences — including in subjects other than English, which the framework explicitly allows as evidence. The single most useful preparation is not grammar drilling but building the habit of independent writing, and keeping a light collection of it. The Year 6 judgement is made across a body of independent work; a school that only starts collecting in Year 6 is collecting under pressure from a narrow sample.

Should Year 5 children still be doing handwriting practice?

The upper key stage 2 requirement shifts from forming letters to using handwriting judiciously: writing legibly, fluently and with increasing speed, choosing which shape of letter to use, deciding whether or not to join specific letters, and choosing the right implement for the task. The non-statutory guidance is explicit that pupils should be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task — quick notes versus a final version — and should also be able to use an unjoined style where it is needed.

Upper key stage 2

Year 5 writing: objectives, expectations and what to look for

Year 5 is where the writing that will be judged in Year 6 is actually built. Here are the statutory objectives, the Year 5 grammar and punctuation, annotated exemplars, and what to get right now so that Year 6 is a judgement rather than a scramble.

Last updated: July 2026

Year 5 writing at a glance

Year 5 begins upper key stage 2, and the composition requirements become recognisably the ones that the Year 6 framework will be judged against: identify the audience and purpose, select the appropriate form, use other writing as models, describe settings, characters and atmosphere, integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action, build cohesion across paragraphs, and choose the appropriate register. Every one of those phrases reappears, almost word for word, in the end-of-key-stage-2 standards.

Year 5’s own statutory grammar is the machinery that makes them possible: relative clauses, modal verbs and adverbs for degrees of possibility, brackets, dashes and commas for parenthesis, commas to clarify meaning and avoid ambiguity, and cohesive devices within and across paragraphs. The most useful thing a Year 5 teacher can do is treat this as writing to be controlled, not features to be inserted.

The statutory writing objectives

These are the statutory writing requirements for upper key stage 2, quoted from the national curriculum. They are shared with Year 6 — see the note below.

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 upper key stage 2 (Years 5 and 6) together, and schools need only have taught them by the end of Year 6. There is therefore no separate statutory “Year 5 composition” list — but English Appendix 2, in the next section, IS statutory for Year 5 specifically.

Transcription — spelling

Use further prefixes and suffixes, and understand the guidance for adding them
Spell some words with ‘silent’ letters (knight, psalm, solemn)
Continue to distinguish between homophones and other words which are often confused
Use knowledge of morphology and etymology in spelling, and understand that some words need to be learnt specifically (English Appendix 1)
Use dictionaries to check the spelling and meaning of words, using the first three or four letters, and use a thesaurus

Transcription — handwriting and presentation

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

Composition

Plan by identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models
Note and develop initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary
In narratives, consider how authors have developed characters and settings in what pupils have read, listened to or seen performed
Draft and write by selecting appropriate grammar and vocabulary, understanding how such choices can change and enhance meaning
In narratives, describe settings, characters and atmosphere, and integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action
Précis longer passages, use a wide range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs, and use further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and guide the reader
Evaluate and edit: assess the effectiveness of their own and others’ writing, propose changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation to enhance effects and clarify meaning, ensure consistent and correct use of tense, ensure subject–verb agreement, and distinguish between the language of speech and writing, choosing the appropriate register
Proofread for spelling and punctuation errors, and perform their own compositions so that meaning is clear

Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation

Recognise vocabulary and structures appropriate for formal speech and writing, including subjunctive forms
Use passive verbs to affect the presentation of information in a sentence
Use the perfect form of verbs to mark relationships of time and cause
Use expanded noun phrases to convey complicated information concisely
Use modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
Use relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose or that, or with an implied (omitted) relative pronoun
Use commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity, hyphens to avoid ambiguity, brackets, dashes or commas for parenthesis, semi-colons, colons or dashes to mark boundaries between independent clauses, a colon to introduce a list, and consistent punctuation of bullet points

Year 5 grammar and punctuation (English Appendix 2)

English Appendix 2 is statutory for Year 5 specifically — unlike the phase-level composition requirements above. This is the Year 5 content in full.

Area	Detail of content to be introduced in Year 5
Word	Converting nouns or adjectives into verbs using suffixes (–ate, –ise, –ify) Verb prefixes (dis–, de–, mis–, over–, re–)
Sentence	Relative clauses beginning with who, which, where, when, whose, that, or an omitted relative pronoun Indicating degrees of possibility using adverbs (perhaps, surely) or modal verbs (might, should, will, must)
Text	Devices to build cohesion within a paragraph (then, after that, this, firstly) Linking ideas across paragraphs using adverbials of time (later), place (nearby) and number (secondly), or tense choices (he had seen her before)
Punctuation	Brackets, dashes or commas to indicate parenthesis Use of commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity

Terminology for Year 5 pupils

These are the terms Year 5 pupils are expected to know and use when discussing their own writing — introduced this year, on top of everything from previous years.

modal verbrelative pronounrelative clauseparenthesisbracketdashcohesionambiguity

What “on track” means in Year 5

Synthesised by Howay — not a DfE framework

Synthesised by Howay from the statutory upper key stage 2 programme of study and English Appendix 2 (Year 5). This is not a DfE framework — no teacher assessment framework exists for Year 5, and none of the wording below is quoted from one. The framework a Year 5 child is working towards is the statutory one at the end of Year 6.

There is no teacher assessment framework for Year 5 — the next one is the statutory framework at the end of Year 6. What follows is a synthesis of the upper key stage 2 programme of study and the Year 5 Appendix 2 content, written with one eye on where it is heading. The wording is ours, not the DfE’s.

Working towards age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

write for a purpose, but without adapting the form or language much to the reader
build cohesion within a paragraph, while links across paragraphs remain weak
attempt relative clauses and parenthesis, with the punctuation applied inconsistently
use dialogue that reports rather than reveals
drift in tense or register across a longer piece

Meeting age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

identify audience and purpose, select an appropriate form, and use other writing as a model
describe settings, characters and atmosphere in narrative, and integrate dialogue to convey character and advance the action
use relative clauses, and modal verbs or adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility
punctuate parenthesis correctly with brackets, dashes or commas
use a range of devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs
maintain tense and subject–verb agreement consistently across a longer piece
propose changes to vocabulary, grammar and punctuation that enhance effect and clarify meaning — editing, not just proofreading

Exceeding age-related expectations

Typically, the writing shows that the pupil can:

choose register deliberately, and hold it — the formal report does not drift into chattiness
draw on reading as a model without being told to
use parenthesis and punctuation to shape meaning rather than to demonstrate a device
précis and cut — say more in fewer words, which is much harder than the reverse
reach into Year 6 grammar — the passive, and the formal structures and subjunctive forms of the Year 6 Appendix 2 content — where the writing genuinely calls for it

If your school records Year 5 as WTS/EXS/GDS, it is borrowing the labels from the end-of-key-stage frameworks as a tracking convention. They have a national definition only at the end of a key stage — but in Year 5, unlike earlier years, they are at least pointing at a real destination twelve months away.

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

The museum is very old. It was built in 1887. It has lots of interesting things in it. My favourite thing is the dinosaur skeleton which is very big. You should definitely go there because it is really good and you will like it a lot.

What this shows against the curriculum

The purpose is clear (a recommendation) but the form and language are not adapted to a reader — this reads as a list of facts with an opinion attached.
A relative clause is attempted (‘which is very big’) — the Year 5 sentence requirement — but it adds nothing.
Cohesion within the paragraph is thin: each sentence starts with the subject, and nothing links to what came before.
Vocabulary is general (‘interesting things’, ‘really good’) where precision is what the writing needs.

Meeting age-related expectations

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

The Hartley Museum, which opened in 1887, is easy to walk past — and most people do. Inside, however, it holds one of the finest fossil collections in the north.

The centrepiece is a diplodocus skeleton that stretches the length of the main hall. Standing beneath it, you might expect to feel small; in fact, most visitors say they feel oddly protected. Nearby, a quieter case holds the fossil that made the museum’s name: a single ammonite, no larger than a coin.

If you have an hour to spare in Hartley, this is where it should go.

What this shows against the curriculum

Audience and purpose are identified and the form fits: this is written to persuade a reader to visit, and it addresses them.
A relative clause (‘which opened in 1887’) is correctly punctuated as parenthesis with a comma pair — the Year 5 punctuation requirement. The dash later in that sentence sets off a trailing remark rather than enclosing parenthesis, which is a distinction worth drawing with children: parenthesis brackets material the sentence would be complete without.
A modal verb (‘might expect’) indicates degree of possibility — the Year 5 statutory sentence content.
Cohesion is built within paragraphs using adverbials of place (‘Inside’, ‘Nearby’) — and across them by the closing paragraph, which returns to the claim the opening made and addresses the reader directly.

Exceeding age-related expectations

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

Almost nobody visits the Hartley Museum, and almost everybody should.

Its diplodocus — nine metres of it — fills the main hall so completely that visitors lower their voices without meaning to, as though the animal might still be sleeping. Children stop talking. Adults who arrived expecting to be bored stay far longer than they planned.

But the fossil that made Hartley’s name is not the dinosaur. It sits in a case by the fire exit, unlit and unlabelled for years: an ammonite no bigger than a coin, found by a fourteen-year-old apprentice who was never paid for it.

That, more than the skeleton, is the reason to go.

What this shows against the curriculum

Register is chosen and held right through the piece — persuasive, but understated rather than shouted. That control is the direction of travel towards the Year 6 greater-depth statements.
The dashes enclose genuine parenthesis (‘— nine metres of it —’), shaping the sentence rather than demonstrating a device.
Cohesion is structural: the piece sets up the dinosaur in order to displace it, and the closing line returns to the argument the opening sentence started.
The influence of reading is visible in the sentence rhythm and the withholding — which is precisely what the KS2 framework means by drawing on reading as a model.

Moderation and what to look for in the books

Year 5 is not moderated externally, but it is the last year in which a school can change the trajectory of its Year 6 judgements without anything being at stake. That makes internal moderation in Year 5 unusually valuable.

Moderate Year 5 against the Year 6 framework — as a diagnostic

Not to make a judgement, and certainly not to record one, but to see where a cohort actually is. Reading Year 5 books against the KS2 expected-standard statements tells you what to teach next year in a way that a tracking spreadsheet cannot.

Start the collection now

The Year 6 judgement rests on a collection of independent writing across a range of purposes, forms and audiences. Schools that begin curating in September of Year 6 are curating from a narrow, pressured sample. Schools that keep a light folder from Year 5 arrive with breadth.

Watch for range, not just quality

The greater-depth statements are about adapting to purpose, audience, form and formality — which a collection of five narratives cannot evidence, however good they are. In Year 5 book scrutiny, ask what forms the class has actually written in, including in history, science and geography.

Fix register before Year 6

‘Distinguish between the language of speech and writing and choose the appropriate register’ is a Year 6 greater-depth statement, but it is a Year 5 teaching job. A child who cannot yet hear the difference between how they talk and how they write will not acquire it in the spring term of Year 6.

For the moderation process itself — who gets moderated, the summer window, and what happens on the day — see KS2 writing moderation and preparing for writing moderation.

Common pitfalls in Year 5 writing

Treating Year 5 as early SATs preparation. Writing at key stage 2 is not tested — it is teacher-assessed across a collection of independent writing. Drilling Year 5 on grammar exercises and test technique produces children who can identify a relative clause and cannot write a good sentence. The Year 6 judgement will be made on their writing, not their grammar scores.
Parenthesis inserted to be spotted. Brackets, dashes and commas for parenthesis are Year 5 statutory content, and they are catnip for success criteria. Writing that contains a bracketed aside because the checklist demanded one reads worse than writing that does not. The device should be invisible; only its effect should show.
Cohesion taught as a word bank. Handing out a list of ‘cohesive devices’ (‘furthermore’, ‘in addition’, ‘on the other hand’) produces writing studded with connectives that connect nothing. The Appendix 2 requirement is devices to build cohesion — including pronoun choice, tense choice and repetition, none of which are on the poster.
Leaving independence until Year 6. The KS2 framework requires that writing used for the judgement is produced independently. If a class has spent Year 5 writing to a shared model on the board every week, they will find genuinely independent writing hard in Year 6 — and the evidence base will be thin exactly when it matters.

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 5 writing objectives?: For composition, transcription and handwriting, the national curriculum sets out a single programme of study for upper key stage 2 (Years 5 and 6), which need only be taught by the end of Year 6 — so there is no separate statutory Year 5 composition list. For grammar, punctuation and vocabulary, English Appendix 2 is year-by-year statutory, and Year 5 has its own content: relative clauses, modal verbs and adverbs to indicate degrees of possibility, devices to build cohesion within and across paragraphs, brackets, dashes or commas for parenthesis, commas to clarify meaning or avoid ambiguity, converting nouns and adjectives into verbs with suffixes, and verb prefixes.
Is Year 5 writing assessed against the KS2 framework?: Not formally. The teacher assessment framework applies at the end of key stage 2 — that is, at the end of Year 6. Many schools do read Year 5 writing against the framework’s expected-standard statements as a diagnostic, to see what needs teaching in Year 6, and that is a sensible use of it. What it should not be is a recorded judgement: the standard describes a child at the end of the key stage, not a year early.
What is a relative clause, and what does Year 5 need to do with it?: A relative clause adds information about a noun, and begins with who, which, where, when, whose or that — or with the relative pronoun omitted entirely (‘the book I read’ rather than ‘the book that I read’). Year 5 is where it becomes statutory content. The important part is not identifying them but punctuating them: a non-defining relative clause is parenthesis, and needs commas, brackets or dashes around it.
How should Year 5 be preparing for Year 6 writing?: By writing a lot, independently, across a genuine range of purposes, forms and audiences — including in subjects other than English, which the framework explicitly allows as evidence. The single most useful preparation is not grammar drilling but building the habit of independent writing, and keeping a light collection of it. The Year 6 judgement is made across a body of independent work; a school that only starts collecting in Year 6 is collecting under pressure from a narrow sample.
Should Year 5 children still be doing handwriting practice?: The upper key stage 2 requirement shifts from forming letters to using handwriting judiciously: writing legibly, fluently and with increasing speed, choosing which shape of letter to use, deciding whether or not to join specific letters, and choosing the right implement for the task. The non-statutory guidance is explicit that pupils should be clear about what standard of handwriting is appropriate for a particular task — quick notes versus a final version — and should also be able to use an unjoined style where it is needed.

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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