Literacy sub levels - primary to lower secondary

If you have ever wondered what it looks like in simple terms, then this is the listing I used with the children themselves. They found it very useful and mapped their work against what it said here. If they used part of the level they became more aware of what it was that was still missing. If you are interested in a word list which is used by 11+ students, then go onto http://www.11plus.co.uk/ and look at their resources. Many are free and will give you an idea of what grammar schools expect as their standards. If your child is in the last 2 years of primary school, these are useful resources as they give your child the opportunity to reach the top levels in secondary school even if your area does not support the 11 plus.

Level	Spelling + punctuation	Sentences
2b	Punctuation correctly used in at least 2 sentences.	Some sentences are using connectives other than ‘and’ Interesting sentences are used; interesting words too.
2a	Most punctuation is correct	Writing is interesting with descriptions
3c	Spelling and punctuation and grammar usually correct	Sentences contain detail and are descriptive.
3b	Spellings and punctuation correct	Varied and interesting choice of words
3a	Handwriting, spelling, grammar all correct.	Fluent and imaginative writing
4c	Using a variety of words, using commas and ‘?’ correctly	Beginning to use grammatically complex sentences
4b	Vocabulary is very wide now.	Some grammatically complex sentences used regularly
4a	Vocabulary is adventurous and words are used for effect	Consistently lively and thoughtful work, using complex sentence structure regularly.
5c	Mixtures of simple and complex sentences are arranged in paragraphs. All forms of punctuation are used correctly.	A more formal set of styles are being used where needed