What will my child learn in Year 2?

What's new this year

Year 2 completes Key Stage 1. The big shift is in reading: most children move from working out each word to reading smoothly enough to think about what the text means.

The national Key Stage 1 tests (often called Year 2 SATs) have been optional since 2023/24. Some schools still use them in May 2027 to help judge progress; many don't. Either way, you'll hear how your child is doing in their end-of-year report. Children who didn't meet the phonics standard in Year 1 retake the phonics check in the week of 14 to 18 June 2027.

Maths in Year 2

• Place value in two-digit numbers (tens and ones), and comparing numbers to 100 using <, > and =.
• Knowing addition and subtraction facts to 20 quickly, and adding and subtracting two-digit numbers.
• The 2, 5 and 10 times tables, odd and even numbers, and early multiplication and division.
• Fractions: half, a third, a quarter and three quarters of shapes and amounts.
• Money in pounds and pence including change, telling the time to five minutes, and measuring in cm, m, kg, g and litres.
• Properties of shapes (sides, corners, faces), and reading pictograms, tally charts and simple tables.

🔢

Place Value: Tens and Ones Adventure with Ollie the Owl

Learn place value with tens and ones: bundle cubes into tens, build and split numbers to 100, and compare the… Ages 5–830 min ♡

🔢

2, 5 and 10 Times Tables: A Beach Adventure with Pip

Learn the 2, 5 and 10 times tables, their division facts and odd and even numbers by calling seagulls, crabs… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–840 min ♡

➗

Multiplication and Division: Share, Group and Grow a Garden

Learn multiplication and division with equal groups, sharing, grouping and arrays, then help Dotty the ladybi… Ages 5–825 min ♡

🔍

Addition and Subtraction Word Problems: Crack the Case

Learn to solve addition and subtraction word problems by tapping number clues, building bar models and checki… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–845 min ♡

🕰️

Telling the Time: Fix the Clocks of Time Town with Koo

Learn all about telling the time: read clocks to five minutes, quarter past and quarter to, draw the hands an… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–850 min ♡

📊

Tally Charts and Pictograms: A Data Park Detective Game

Learn to read and make tally charts and pictograms, then sort pond animals, build block diagrams and compare… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–840 min ♡

English in Year 2

• Reading: phonics continues until decoding is secure, then the focus turns to fluency and talking about the order of events, characters and favourite words.
• Writing: statements, questions, exclamations and commands, and joining ideas with words like when, if, that and because.
• Grammar: expanded noun phrases ("the big blue butterfly") and keeping past and present tense consistent, including "was running".
• Punctuation: commas in lists and apostrophes for missing letters (can't) and belonging (the dog's bone).
• Spelling and handwriting: common exception words, homophones, suffixes like -ment, -ness, -ful and -less, and starting to join letters.

🔤

Year 2 Phonics: Blend, Read and Spell on Word Island

Learn Year 2 phonics: blend new words, try alternative sounds, read long words and suffixes, and spell with n… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–760 min ♡

🔤

Year 2 Common Exception Words: An Island Word Hunt

Learn to read and spell the Year 2 common exception words by spotting each tricky part, waking silent letters… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–850 min ♡

✏️

Year 2 Spelling Rules: Explore Spelling Village with Quill

Learn the Year 2 spelling rules, from silent letters to -tion and homophones, by sorting, building and fixing… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–840 min ♡

🦋

Expanded Noun Phrases: Paint Picture Town with Words

Learn how expanded noun phrases describe and specify, like the blue butterfly, by dragging describing words t… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–730 min ♡

✏️

Commas in a List: A Market Adventure with Kit the Comma

Learn how to use commas in a list, with 'and' before the last item. Fill baskets, fix market signs and write… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 5–835 min ♡

✏️

Apostrophes: Missing Letters and Belonging with Posy

Learn how apostrophes show missing letters (can't, I'll) and belonging (the girl's book) by squashing words,… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–835 min ♡

Science and other subjects

Year 2 science covers living things and their habitats, how plants grow from seeds and bulbs, what animals and humans need to survive and stay healthy, and choosing materials for a job. In history and geography schools pick their own topics, for example the Great Fire of London, Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole, or the world's continents and oceans.

This year's topics, subject by subject

The roadmaps below show the order in which topics usually build up through Year 2, subject by subject. Schools teach in different orders, so treat them as a guide to what's coming rather than a timetable.

How you can help at home

• Keep hearing your child read, and ask one question afterwards: "Why do you think she did that?"
• Let them pay at a shop or market stall and check the change.
• Ask time questions on the go: "It's quarter past four. What time will it be in half an hour?"
• Count in 2s, 5s and 10s, then ask the matching times-table fact. Our times tables guide has more ideas.
• Bake or cook together to practise measuring and halving.