By the time your child reaches the end of primary school in year 6, it’s particularly important for them to have mastered a range of skills, as their secondary school will be expecting to build on these skills in year 7. 

At this age, your child will have wide-ranging skills and knowledge across assorted school subjects, and the list below is by no means comprehensive. However, if your child is behind in any of the skills below, it can be a helpful indicator that intervention is needed before it becomes a problem at secondary school. 

Academic Skills

Sitting Exams 

While your child will have taken SATs at the end of year 2, it’s usual for teachers to hide these exams from students, so they may not even realise they have been sitting a formal exam. The SATs at the end of Key Stage 2 are different; your child will be expected to revise and develop the beginnings of exam technique. 

Carrying Out Research

Your child will begin to do some independent research in year 6. By the end of the year, they should have a reasonable idea of how to find answers to a research question in the library or online, and how to put those answers together without plagiarism. 

Math

Multiplication Tables To 12×12

Your child will be expected to have memorised multiplication tables all the way up to 12×12, or at least be able to calculate these using rapid mental math, and use them in other calculations.

Percentages, Decimals And Fractions

Your child should be confident in their use of percentages, decimals and fractions, including converting between them and dividing them by whole numbers.

Geometry

Your child’s understanding of geometry should have moved on from basic shapes, to finding missing angles in a range of shapes and using formulae such as calculating the area of a circle. 

English

Understanding Fact And Opinion

When reading or writing, your child should be able to identify the difference between fact and opinion and how they are each expressed. They may begin to be able to identify signs of bias. 

Appreciation Of Style

Your child should be able to distinguish and produce different styles of writing, such as formal and informal styles, or the different styles of comedy or horror. They should appreciate how seemingly unrelated things such as a description of the weather can be used to establish a particular mood.

Confident Spelling

Spelling is affected by factors such as dyslexia. However, children who face no such challenges in their spelling should be spelling routine words reliably, and should also be making progress on challenging English spellings such as words ending in -tial and -cial.