One course, from first sounds to B1.
Four year-long levels, each with a weekly plan, and a set of strands that run alongside them: phonics, reading, spelling, handwriting, typing, writing, grammar, vocabulary, listening and more. This page shows how it all fits together and where each child should start.
Three ways in
Choose whichever matches what you know. All three lead to the same weekly plans.
I do not know the level
A five-minute check with picture and listening questions. It suggests a level and a starting week. Nothing leaves your browser.
Take the placement check →I know the school year
Reception to Year 9. Each year page shows what the national curriculum asks, what to use here, and a term-by-term path.
Choose a year →I teach English as a foreign language
Timetables for two, three and five lessons a week, large classes, and a plan for a whole school.
Open the EFL pathway →Four levels, one ladder
Each level is 36 weeks with three lessons a week and three terms. Group children by what they can do, not by age. The ages shown are where each level usually fits best.
Little Steps English
Talk, songs, stories and first sounds, in short sessions for the youngest learners.
- CEFR
- Pre-CEFR (talk and first sounds)
- UK years
- Reception
- Cambridge
- Before Starters
Next Steps English
For children who can decode but cannot yet talk, read for meaning or write in English.
- CEFR
- Pre-A1 to A1
- UK years
- Years 1 and 2
- Cambridge
- Starters to Movers
Moving Up English
From simple sentences to short texts, past and future, facts and stories.
- CEFR
- A1 to A2
- UK years
- Years 3 and 4
- Cambridge
- Movers to Flyers
Bridge English
Opinions, reports, arguments and presentations, on the way to B1.
- CEFR
- A2 to B1
- UK years
- Years 5 and 6
- Cambridge
- A2 Key for Schools to B1 Preliminary
If you think in UK school years
UK children usually learn English as a first language, so the levels are not a perfect match. The year pages say how to use the course alongside what the school teaches, and where our pacing is a suggestion.
Strands that run all year
Every level draws on the same strands, each with its own pages: phonics, reading, spelling, handwriting, typing, writing, grammar, vocabulary, listening, video, games and printables. The curriculum plan shows which strand does what at each level.
- Talk and listening
- Phonics and early reading
- Reading fluency and comprehension
- Reading for pleasure
- Spelling
- Handwriting
- Touch typing
- Writing composition
- Grammar and punctuation
- Vocabulary
- Games and classroom tools
- Printables
- Short video lessons
- Checks and assessment
Parents, SEND and reading access
Parents
How to help at home without turning it into homework.
Reading preferences
Text size, spacing, background tint and font, saved on your device only.
Honest about the national curriculum
This course was written for children learning English, and is mapped to the Common European Framework and Cambridge Young Learners levels. We have also cross-referenced it to the English national curriculum (2014 programmes of study) and the early years framework. Where our pacing, or any year mapping, is our own suggestion rather than an official one, the page says so. The government has announced curriculum changes from September 2028, so check the year pages again then.