Year 3 English: what your child learns
Many children speak well but lose marks when they write: spelling, capital letters, full stops and grammar. Our English practice works on exactly that. Spelling words return again and again until they stick; sentence practice builds the habit of capital letters and correct punctuation; reading questions check understanding. Practice is matched to your child’s year and the National Curriculum, from Year 1 phonics to Year 6 SATs spelling, punctuation and grammar.
What Your Child Will Learn in Year 3 English
Spelling
Over 350 spelling questions — the Year 3/4 statutory spelling list, spelling rules, word families, homophones, and suffixes and prefixes.
The Year 3/4 statutory word list is set out in the national curriculum and is revisited again in Year 4.
Grammar & punctuation
Sentence-level grammar and punctuation practice for Year 3.
Grammar and punctuation taught in Year 3 builds directly towards the KS2 SATs test in Year 6.
Writing sentences
Correcting sentences, plus practice on correct spacing and layout of sentences.
Accurate sentence construction and spacing is a Year 3 writing expectation.
Reading & comprehension
Longer comprehension passages with retrieval questions, plus a large bank of vocabulary-building word practice.
Reading comprehension skills practised now are tested directly in the Year 6 KS2 SATs reading paper.
How You Can Help at Home
Read a wider range of books together
Year 3 comprehension passages get longer and more varied — reading a range of story types at home helps.
Spot word families together
When you see a word like ‘happy’, ask what other words share the same root — ‘happiness’, ‘unhappy’. It reinforces what’s practised in Word families.
Check progress by topic, not just a score
The parent dashboard shows spelling, grammar and comprehension separately, so you know exactly where to focus.
Year 3 & KS2 SATs Relevance
There are no SATs in Year 3. But the spelling patterns, grammar rules and comprehension skills built this year are the same ones tested in the Year 6 KS2 SATs — starting early means less to catch up on later.
Example Homework Questions
Question
Which word is spelled correctly: happyness / happiness?
Expected Answer
happiness
Skill Tested
Y3/4 statutory spelling
Question
Choose the correct word: The horse was ___ from running. (board / bored)
Expected Answer
bored
Skill Tested
Homophones
Question
Find and fix the mistake: the dog runned quickly
Expected Answer
The dog ran quickly.
Skill Tested
Sentence correction
Spot Year 3 English Gaps Before They Reach Year 6
The spelling and grammar skills built in Year 3 are the same ones tested in the Year 6 KS2 SATs. See exactly what’s solid and what needs more practice, three years early.