What children learn in Year 6
Year 6 is the last year of primary school. Most children start the year aged 10 and turn 11 during it. Here is what the national curriculum sets out for maths and English in Year 6, the national checks that fall this year and simple ways to help at home.
Daily challenges that keep pace with your child's school year
For Years 1 to 6, with an 11+ track when you're ready.
Maths in Year 6
- Number and place valueNumbers to ten million. Negative numbers and intervals.
- CalculationAll four operations with large numbers. Order of operations and brackets.
- Fractions, decimals and percentagesAll four operations with fractions. Fractions, decimals and percentages.
- MeasurementConverting units of measure. Area, perimeter and volume.
- Shape and positionAngles, circles and nets. Coordinates in four quadrants and reflections.
- StatisticsPie charts, line graphs and the mean.
- Ratio and algebraRatio and proportion. Algebra and formulae.
Many schools teach maths in the order set by White Rose Maths. See the Year 6 blocks term by term.
Source: National curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study (Department for Education).
English in Year 6
- ReadingComprehension across a whole text. Synonyms, antonyms and vocabulary.
- SpellingYear 6 spelling rules. Homophones and near homophones.
- Grammar and punctuationThe passive voice and formal language. Colons, semi-colons and hyphens. Word classes.
Source: National curriculum in England: English programmes of study (Department for Education).
National checks in Year 6
The Key Stage 2 tests (often called SATs) for 2027 run from Monday 10 May to Thursday 13 May: grammar, punctuation and spelling on Monday, reading on Tuesday, maths papers 1 and 2 on Wednesday, maths paper 3 on Thursday.
Children sitting an 11+ test for a grammar school usually sit it at the start of Year 6, in September.
11+ tests by area: dates, papers and schools
Source: Primary assessments: future dates (Standards and Testing Agency, updated 12 October 2026).
Ways to help at home
Arithmetic fluency
- A short daily set of mixed sums keeps methods sharp for the May tests.
- Check answers with the inverse: subtract to check an addition, divide to check a multiplication.
Ratio and algebra
- Scale a recipe for more or fewer people.
- Try number puzzles with a missing value, like "a number doubled plus 3 is 17".
Inference and grammar
- When answering a reading question, ask "how do you know?" and point to the words.
- Spot passive sentences in the news: "The window was broken" never says by whom.
The CoachKite report shows which Year 6 topics your child has mastered and where they stand against their year. See what's in the report.
Daily challenges that keep pace with your child's school year
For Years 1 to 6, with an 11+ track when you're ready.