What will my child learn in Year 3?

What's new this year

Year 3 is the start of Key Stage 2, which runs to Year 6. For some children it means a move to a separate junior school; for others it's a new corridor and a few more responsibilities. Children are expected to work more independently, write at greater length and use written methods in maths. A foreign language, such as French or Spanish, becomes part of the curriculum from Key Stage 2.

There are no national tests in Year 3, which makes it a good year to settle into the new routines.

Maths in Year 3

• Place value in three-digit numbers, and counting in 4s, 8s, 50s and 100s.
• Adding and subtracting numbers with up to three digits using the column method.
• The 3, 4 and 8 times tables, and multiplying a two-digit number by a one-digit number.
• Fractions: tenths, fractions of amounts, simple equivalent fractions, and adding fractions with the same denominator.
• Telling the time on an analogue clock (including Roman numerals), using 12- and 24-hour clocks, money and perimeter.
• Right angles, parallel and perpendicular lines, and bar charts.

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Place Value: Build Numbers to 1,000 with Digit the Robot

Learn place value with hundreds, tens and ones to 1,000. Turn ones into tens in a block machine, build number… Ages 7–920 min ♡

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Column Addition and Subtraction: A Sky Harbour Adventure

Learn column addition and subtraction with up to 4 digits, exchanging, estimating and checking, by helping To… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–1075 min ♡

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Year 3 Multiplication and Division: Pip's Times Market

Learn Year 3 multiplication and division, from times-table facts to written methods, by baking, sharing and s… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–960 min ♡

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Year 3 Fractions: Bake and Share with Pip the Baker

Learn Year 3 fractions by cutting pies, snapping chocolate into tenths, comparing slices and adding fractions… Ages 7–935 min ♡

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Perimeter of Shapes: Walk All the Way Around with Pip

Learn how to find the perimeter of shapes by counting grid edges, measuring sides with a ruler and adding len… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–935 min ♡

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Telling the Time: A Clock Town Adventure with Tock the Owl

Learn telling the time on Roman numeral, 12-hour and 24-hour clocks, then set clock hands, sort am and pm and… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–975 min ♡

English in Year 3

• Reading: a wider range of books, using a dictionary, predicting, working out how characters feel, and finding information in non-fiction.
• Writing: grouping ideas into paragraphs and using headings in non-fiction.
• Grammar: conjunctions (when, before, after, so, because), prepositions, adverbs, the present perfect ("she has gone") and choosing "a" or "an".
• Punctuation: inverted commas (speech marks) for direct speech.
• Spelling and handwriting: prefixes, word families and the Year 3 and 4 statutory word list, plus joined handwriting.

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Year 3 Spelling Words: A Spellwood Quest with Quill

Learn Year 3 spelling words and why each is spelt that way by tapping letters, building words and typing them… Ages 7–945 min ♡

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Speech Marks: Catch the Words with Pip the Parrot

Learn how to use speech marks (inverted commas) to show what people say, by catching characters' words, traci… Ages 7–935 min ♡

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Present Perfect Tense: A Time Detective Game with Max

Learn when to say 'has gone' and when to say 'went' with the present perfect tense, then solve time mysteries… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–930 min ♡

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Prepositions and Conjunctions: A Busy Day with Pip

Learn prepositions and conjunctions for time, place and cause, then help Pip the robin and Mo the kitten buil… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 6–915 min ♡

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Writing Paragraphs: Ride the Paragraph Express with Cleo

Learn how writing paragraphs works: group sentences by idea, spot when to start a new one, order them and lin… Ages 7–945 min ♡

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Joined Handwriting: Learn the Joins with Loopy the Pencil

Learn joined handwriting with diagonal and horizontal joins, which letters stay unjoined and how to write nea… Members · chapter 1 freeAges 7–935 min ♡

Science and other subjects

Year 3 science covers plants (the job of each part and how seeds form and spread), animals including humans (nutrition, skeletons and muscles), rocks, fossils and soil, light and shadows, and forces and magnets. History and geography topics vary by school, for example the Stone Age to the Iron Age, volcanoes or rivers.

This year's topics, subject by subject

The roadmaps below show the order in which topics usually build up through Year 3, 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 reading together, even if your child reads alone. Talk about why characters act as they do.
• Practise the 4 and 8 times tables by doubling: 3 × 4 = 12, so 3 × 8 = 24.
• Have an analogue clock somewhere you both see it. Our guide on telling the time takes it step by step.
• Ask your child to show you how they do a column sum. Explaining it helps them, and it shows you the school's method.
• Pick five words from the Year 3 and 4 list each week and spot them in books.