The Writing Framework from the Department for Education was released at the beginning of July 2025.
According to the Minister for Education it “gives simple, practical advice for teachers and leaders about how to plan and teach writing to pupils in primary schools, from the reception year through to key stage 2”.
It weighs in at 150 pages and has a focus on “transcription
skills (handwriting and spelling) from an early age, beginning in reception“.
The Department for Education has acknowledged that the framework is likely to change again soon, following the broader curriculum review.
The writing framework is set out in 7 sections:
1. The Importance of Writing and a Conceptual Model
2. The Importance of Reception
3. Transcription: Handwriting and Spelling
4. Composition
5. Pupils Who Need the Most Support
6. Writing Across the Curriculum
7. Leadership and Management of Writing
We’re going to focus on spelling on this webpage.
Spelling is treated as a core component of transcription, which is one of the two key strands of writing (the other being composition).
“Spelling, along with handwriting, is part of transcription. The goal is to make sure pupils can spell accurately, so that it becomes automatic.”
The approach to explaining the spelling of words is broken down into:
“Spelling practice should be regular and consistent throughout primary school.”
It should include:
Again, we were pleased to see that these practice align with Emile.
Directly from the writing framework:
“Correcting every misspelling is unnecessary.”
“Teachers should decide how to best support children to learn a misspelt word correctly.”
“Pupils should not be asked to correct the spelling themselves by looking it up in a dictionary”
The important thing is that pupils are supported and encouraged to take an active role in learning how to spell the word correctly (for example, by writing it correctly in their personal spelling book).
“Effective assessment requires more than just a simple spelling test, since pupils are likely to learn new spellings for the test but then not apply them in their writing. Low-stakes testing that prompts them to recall previously taught spellings is likely to provide a more accurate picture of progress as well as providing the retrieval practice that is essential for long-term recall.”
We were particularly pleased with this statement as it aligns with our Spelling Battles (the third pillar of Emile).
Included in the writing framework is an audit list which we have turned into an image and word document for download.
Spelling with Emile is 100% aligned with the framework.
We weren’t surprised. Emile has been based on robust pedagogy from the start. It has been shown again and again to improve spelling.
Easy to implement, low workload and loved by kids.
We run online demo’s daily for teachers throughout the year. They are a great way to see Emile in action and see if it’s right for your tutor group, school or MAT.
