Year 1 Curriculum
A Guide to the Year 1 National Curriculum
The Year 1 curriculum marks the beginning of Key Stage 1. Children build on the learning and development they experienced in the Early Years Foundation Stage and begin working towards the expectations set out in the National Curriculum for Year 1.
This guide provides a clear overview of what children are taught in Year 1 in England. Explore the key learning in English, Maths, Science and the foundation subjects, or follow the links to find ready-to-teach Year 1 lesson plans and resources.
Explore the Year 1 curriculum by subject
Select a subject to jump directly to that section of this Year 1 curriculum overview.
What is taught in Year 1?
Children in Year 1 are usually aged five or six. The Year 1 National Curriculum includes the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science, together with Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Music and Physical Education.
Schools must also teach religious education and relationships education, alongside wider personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE). Individual schools decide how to organise this learning across the school year, so the precise topics and order of teaching may vary.
| Subject | What children learn in Year 1 |
|---|---|
| English | Phonics, reading, handwriting, spelling, sentence construction, punctuation, speaking and listening. |
| Maths | Number and place value, calculations, fractions, measurement, shape, position and direction. |
| Science | Plants, animals including humans, everyday materials, seasonal changes and practical scientific enquiry. |
| History | Changes within living memory, significant people and events, and aspects of local history. |
| Geography | The local area, the United Kingdom, continents and oceans, weather, seasons and geographical skills. |
| Art and design | Drawing, painting, sculpture, creative techniques and the work of artists and designers. |
| Design and technology | Designing, making and evaluating purposeful products, as well as learning about food and nutrition. |
| Computing | Simple algorithms, digital devices, creating digital content and using technology safely. |
| Music | Singing, listening, playing instruments and experimenting with sounds. |
| Physical education | Fundamental movement skills, games, dance and physical confidence. |
Year 1 English Curriculum
The Year 1 English curriculum develops children’s confidence as readers, writers, speakers and listeners. Phonics remains central to early reading and spelling, while children also begin to compose and write increasingly clear sentences.
Reading and phonics in Year 1
Children continue to learn the relationship between letters and sounds. They practise blending sounds to read unfamiliar words and become familiar with common exception words that cannot always be decoded using straightforward phonics.
They listen to and discuss stories, traditional tales, poems and non-fiction texts. Children are encouraged to retell familiar stories, make simple predictions, discuss new vocabulary and explain their understanding of what they have read or heard.
Year 1 writing curriculum
The Year 1 writing National Curriculum expects children to say sentences aloud before writing them, sequence sentences to create short narratives and reread their work to check that it makes sense.
Important Year 1 writing skills include:
- leaving spaces between words
- using capital letters and full stops
- beginning to use question marks and exclamation marks
- using a capital letter for names, places, days of the week and the word ‘I’
- joining words and clauses using ‘and’
- forming lower-case letters, capital letters and digits correctly
- spelling words using the phonemes and spelling patterns that have been taught
- writing common exception words and the days of the week
Spoken language is developed throughout the curriculum as children ask and answer questions, explain their ideas, listen to others and participate in discussions, performances and role play.
Year 1 Maths Curriculum
The Year 1 Maths curriculum helps children develop secure foundations in number, calculation, measurement and geometry. Practical apparatus, pictures, number lines and mathematical language are used to help children understand new concepts before working more abstractly.
Number and place value
By the end of Year 1, children should have worked with numbers to 100. They learn to:
- count forwards and backwards to and across 100
- read and write numbers to 100 in numerals
- write numbers from 1 to 20 in words
- count in multiples of two, five and ten
- find one more and one less than a given number
- represent numbers using objects, pictures and number lines
- compare amounts using language such as more than, less than, equal to, most and least
Addition and subtraction
In the National Curriculum for Year 1 Maths, children develop practical and mental strategies for addition and subtraction. They learn to read and use the +, − and = symbols, recall number bonds within 20 and solve simple problems involving missing numbers.
Children add and subtract one-digit and two-digit numbers to 20, including zero. They use objects, images and number lines to explore how addition and subtraction are connected.
Multiplication and division
Year 1 pupils are introduced to multiplication and division through practical grouping, sharing, repeated addition and arrays. They solve simple one-step problems with support, rather than relying on formal written methods.
Fractions
Children learn to recognise, find and name one half and one quarter of an object, shape or quantity. The emphasis is on understanding that fractions describe equal parts of a whole.
Measurement
The Year 1 National Curriculum for Maths introduces children to practical measurement. They compare and describe:
- lengths and heights
- mass and weight
- capacity and volume
- time and the sequence of events
Children begin to measure and record these quantities. They recognise coins and notes, learn the days of the week and months of the year, and tell the time to the hour and half hour.
Shape, position and direction
Children recognise and name common 2D and 3D shapes, including rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, cubes, cuboids, pyramids and spheres. They also use positional and directional language and explore whole, half and quarter turns.
Year 1 Science Curriculum
The Year 1 Science curriculum encourages children to explore the world around them through observation, discussion and practical investigation. Scientific enquiry skills should be developed through each area of learning rather than taught separately.
Working scientifically
Throughout the National Curriculum for Science in Year 1, children learn to:
- ask simple scientific questions
- observe closely using their senses and simple equipment
- perform simple tests
- identify and classify objects
- use observations to suggest answers
- gather and record simple data
Plants
Children identify and name common wild and garden plants, including deciduous and evergreen trees. They examine the basic structure of flowering plants and trees, including roots, stems, leaves, flowers and trunks.
Animals, including humans
Year 1 pupils identify and name animals from different groups, including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians. They compare the bodies of different animals and learn whether animals are carnivores, herbivores or omnivores.
Children also identify and label basic parts of the human body and connect different body parts with the five senses.
Everyday materials
Children distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made. They identify common materials such as wood, plastic, glass, metal, water and rock, and describe simple properties including hard, soft, stretchy, stiff, shiny, dull, waterproof and absorbent.
Seasonal changes
Children observe changes across the four seasons. They describe how the weather and the length of the day vary throughout the year, often recording regular observations over an extended period.
Year 1 History Curriculum
The Year 1 History curriculum introduces children to the idea of the past. They develop chronological understanding, use historical vocabulary and explore how people’s lives and familiar objects have changed over time.
Across Key Stage 1, children should learn about:
- changes within living memory
- events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally
- the lives of significant individuals who have contributed to national or international achievements
- significant historical people, places or events in their own locality
Schools may choose different Year 1 History topics to meet these requirements. Common choices include toys through time, homes in the past, transport, significant explorers, famous nurses, monarchs and important local events.
Year 1 Geography Curriculum
The Year 1 Geography curriculum helps children develop knowledge of their local area, the United Kingdom and the wider world. They begin to use maps, photographs, simple compass directions and geographical vocabulary.
Key Stage 1 Geography includes:
- naming and locating the world’s seven continents and five oceans
- naming and locating the four countries and capital cities of the United Kingdom
- recognising the seas surrounding the United Kingdom
- comparing the human and physical geography of contrasting places
- identifying seasonal and daily weather patterns
- using maps, atlases, globes and aerial photographs
- using simple compass directions and positional language
- carrying out simple fieldwork in the school grounds or local area
The precise content taught in Year 1 may vary because schools can divide the Key Stage 1 Geography programme between Years 1 and 2.
Year 1 Art Curriculum
The Year 1 Art curriculum gives children opportunities to experiment with different materials, techniques and creative ideas. They develop basic skills in drawing, painting, sculpture and other forms of art, craft and design.
Children should be given opportunities to:
- use a range of materials creatively
- develop drawing, painting and sculpture techniques
- explore colour, pattern, texture, line, shape, form and space
- record ideas and experiences
- learn about the work of artists, craft makers and designers
- make connections between artists’ work and their own creative choices
Year 1 Design and Technology Curriculum
The Year 1 DT curriculum introduces children to the process of designing, making and evaluating products. Children are encouraged to think about who a product is for, what it needs to do and how it could be improved.
Year 1 DT activities may include:
- designing products for a particular user or purpose
- communicating ideas through talking, drawing, templates or simple models
- selecting and using tools and materials
- joining, shaping and finishing materials
- exploring simple structures and mechanisms
- evaluating existing products and their own finished work
- learning about healthy food and preparing simple dishes
Year 1 Computing Curriculum
In the Year 1 Computing curriculum, children begin to understand that programs follow precise instructions called algorithms. They create and debug simple programs and use digital technology to organise, create and retrieve content.
Children should also learn to recognise common uses of information technology beyond school and use technology safely and respectfully. This includes knowing where to go for help if they encounter something online that worries them.
Year 1 Music Curriculum
The Year 1 Music curriculum encourages children to enjoy performing, listening and creating music. They use their voices expressively, sing songs and chants, and play tuned and untuned instruments.
Children listen to a range of live and recorded music and begin to experiment with sounds. They may explore musical elements such as pulse, rhythm, pitch, tempo and dynamics through singing, movement and instrumental work.
Year 1 Physical Education Curriculum
In Year 1 PE, children develop fundamental movement skills and become increasingly confident and competent in physical activity.
They practise movements such as running, jumping, throwing and catching. Children participate in simple team games, develop balance and coordination, and perform dances using basic movement patterns.
Year 1 RE and PSHE Curriculum
Religious education is not part of the National Curriculum, but schools must provide it. The precise Year 1 RE curriculum is usually determined by the locally agreed syllabus or, in some schools, by the school’s religious character.
Children may learn about important beliefs, celebrations, stories, places of worship and practices from different religions and worldviews.
The Year 1 PSHE curriculum commonly includes relationships, physical and emotional wellbeing, personal safety, families, friendships, communities and respectful behaviour. Statutory relationships education should help children understand healthy relationships and how to seek help when they need it.
Ready-to-teach Year 1 curriculum resources
PlanBee’s Year 1 teaching resources are created by experienced primary teachers and designed to support National Curriculum coverage and progression.
Our complete lesson packs include detailed lesson plans, slides for the teaching input and a range of differentiated worksheets, activities, challenges and printable resources.
Year 1 Curriculum FAQs
What age are children in Year 1?
Most children in Year 1 are aged five at the beginning of the school year and turn six before the end of it. Year 1 is the first year of Key Stage 1 in England.
What subjects are taught in Year 1?
The National Curriculum for Year 1 includes English, Maths, Science, Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Music and Physical Education. Schools must also provide religious education and relationships education, alongside wider PSHE learning.
What should a Year 1 child know in Maths?
The Year 1 Maths curriculum includes counting and working with numbers to 100, number bonds within 20, simple addition and subtraction, introductory multiplication and division, halves and quarters, measurement, time, money, common shapes and positional language.
What Science topics are taught in Year 1?
The Year 1 science National Curriculum covers plants, animals including humans, everyday materials and seasonal changes. Children also develop practical enquiry skills by asking questions, observing, testing, classifying and recording simple information.
Is phonics part of the Year 1 curriculum?
Yes. Phonics is a central part of the Year 1 English curriculum. Children use their phonic knowledge to decode words, develop reading fluency and spell words containing the sounds and letter patterns they have been taught.
Do all schools teach the same Year 1 topics?
All maintained schools in England must teach the relevant National Curriculum programmes of study, but schools can choose many of the particular topics, texts and activities through which the objectives are taught. They can also decide how learning is organised across the academic year.
What is a Year 1 curriculum overview?
A Year 1 curriculum overview shows the subjects, topics and key knowledge or skills that will be taught during the year. Schools often organise this information by term so that teachers and families can see how learning is sequenced.
