This grammar glossary will help you to understand the terminology used in schools and outlines the expectations for children in Y6, with other years progressing carefully through this learning.

At the end of primary school, every child will sit a Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test (often called the GPS test). Having a good understanding of grammar is helpful for children’s writing, allowing them build words into sentences that communicate exactly what they want to say.

Children don’t need to learn all of the theory of English grammar before they can use it to communicate – much of children’s grammar knowledge will develop naturally through listening and talking, through absorbing language from the books that they enjoy and through trying different ways of putting words together to make sentences, slowly building up an understanding of what is right and what doesn’t quite make sense.