How WriteWell Aligns with the DfE's Writing Framework

This guide examines how WriteWell aligns with the new DfE's Writing Framework's core requirements, from physical readiness and cumulative progression to teaching methodology and assessment strategies.

The Department for Education's 2025 Writing Framework has brought renewed focus to the teaching of transcription skills, particularly handwriting. With clear expectations for systematic, cumulative instruction from Reception onwards, schools need resources that match the expected standards of teaching.

WriteWell is a whole-school handwriting scheme that prioritises explicit teaching, developmental progression and cumulative skill-building. Here's how WriteWell aligns with the core areas of the Framework's guidance on handwriting instruction.

1. A Systematic and developmental approach

The 2025 Writing Framework stipulates that handwriting instruction must be taught explicitly, precisely, regularly, and cumulatively in a clearly sequenced progression, starting from Reception.

WriteWell is a systematic and consistent whole-school scheme designed to develop pupils' handwriting from Reception to Year 6. Its structure is explicitly developmental, building knowledge and skills in a cumulative manner.

The series is based on the National Handwriting Association's 'S Factors for Success', which are arranged in order of developmental demand: Shape, Space, Size, Sitting on the line, Stringing together, Slant, Speed, and Style. These factors are grouped into four cumulative Stages that ensure learning is embedded before pupils move on to the next one. This mirrors the Framework's requirement for a cumulative and sequenced approach.

WriteWell Stage	Coverage of S Factors	Pupil books
Stage 1	Shape	Books 1-4
Stage 2	Space, Size and Sitting on the line	Book 5
Stage 3	Stringing together and slant	Books 6-9
Stage 4	Speed and Style	Books 10-11

2. Physical readiness and foundational skills

The Framework emphasises the crucial role of the Reception year in building the physical foundations for writing. It requires explicit teaching and practice of posture, pencil grip, and movements needed to form letters.

WriteWell recognises the physical demands of handwriting as a developmental process, requiring physical strength, visual perception, and motor skills.

'Strength' sits at the base of the WriteWell developmental pyramid, identifying it as the foundational stage and a prerequisite for starting the programme.

The series incorporates Ready-to-Write Routines that assess the P checks: Posture, Pencil grip, Paper position, and Pressure. This supports the Framework's focus on establishing good habits for posture and position early on.

Handwriting P checks

WriteWell P checks reminder (PDF)

Stage 1 in WriteWell (covered in Books 1 to 4) begins with writing patterns to boost pencil control and hand-eye coordination before moving to letter formation, addressing the Framework's recommendation for practising the movements needed to form letters.

3. Progression: Unjoined letters before joining

The Framework is clear that joined handwriting should not be taught until pupils can form unjoined letters (print forms) correctly and consistently. This prevents the reinforcement of incorrect letter formations.

This principle is strictly adhered to in the WriteWell cumulative structure.

Stage 1: Shape (Books 1 to 4) focuses entirely on forming individual lowercase letters, capital letters, and numbers correctly, starting and finishing in the correct place. This stage correlates with Reception and Year 1 National Curriculum requirements.
Stage 2: Space, Size and Sitting on the line (Book 5) focuses on ensuring letters are correctly positioned and sized relative to one another. This is necessary before joining.
Stage 3: Stringing together and Slant (Books 6 to 9) is introduced only after Stages 1 and 2 are secure. At this point, children move on to learning to join letters. This sequential progression directly aligns with the Framework's recommendations.

4. Teaching methodology and practice

The Framework emphasises that handwriting instruction should be taught daily, starting in the first term of Reception, until pupils can write legibly and easily. It should be delivered in small, cumulative steps with ample practice and teacher demonstration. Teachers must observe and correct errors immediately.

WriteWell provides the flexibility for teachers to determine when handwriting is taught. The series uses a clear pedagogical model: ‘Introducing the focus’, ‘Try it’, ‘Practise it’, and ‘Apply it’.

The pupil books provide carefully structured progression and a consistent approach to teaching and learning handwriting throughout the programme. The books each contain 15 teaching units, followed by one or more writing challenges. Each unit has a clear focus, which is explained in the Information panel at the start of each unit. The unit activities, which correspond with steps of the teaching model, ensure that the focus is understood, attempted, practised and then applied.

The programme integrates kinaesthetic activities to allow pupils to try movements at a larger scale, embedding the movement in their muscle memory. This is a practice suggested by the Framework.

The ‘Try it’ and ‘Practise it’ activities require the teacher or another adult to closely observe children to check for correct formation and correct any serious errors before they become ingrained.

The ‘Apply it’ activities encourage children to use the new handwriting focus in a realistic writing context, helping them to transfer skills to their everyday writing.

5. Curriculum progression and fluency

The Framework provides clear progression expectations covering letter formation (Year 1), relative size and joining strokes (Year 2), and increasing legibility, consistency, quality, fluency, and speed (Key Stage 2).

WriteWell directly maps its developmental stages and pupil books to the National Curriculum requirements.

In Years 1 to 2, Books 4 and 5 cover forming capital letters, digits, letter families (Stage 1), and letter size, position, and spacing (Stage 2).
In Years 2 to 4, Books 6 to 9 cover joining letters (Stage 3: Stringing together), aligning with the need to introduce diagonal and horizontal strokes.
In Years 5 to 6, Books 10 and 11 focus on Speed and Style.

6. Assessment and intervention

The Framework stresses the importance of ongoing formative assessment to identify errors immediately, alongside summative checks.

Assessment is an integral part of every teaching unit in WriteWell. Assessment of the handwriting in the Apply it activity will help determine whether the unit focus has been fully grasped. The activity gives multiple opportunities to practise the unit focus in a writing context, to allow teachers to see whether the children have mastered the focus letter shape, join or handwriting feature.

Ready to Go assessments are provided at the end of each developmental stage to determine if a child is ready to move to the next stage or requires further consolidation. These typically involve copying text and writing from dictation, a strategy the Framework recommends for practising transcription and spelling without the cognitive load of composition.

Supporting the framework

The WriteWell programme demonstrates strong, specific alignment with the core guidance set out in the 2025 Writing Framework concerning transcription instruction. Its phased, systematic approach addresses the physical prerequisites, ensures correct foundational letter formation precedes joining, incorporates explicit teaching and demonstration and includes consistent assessment and intervention strategies required to develop fluent, automatic handwriting skills from Reception through to Key Stage 2.

If you're looking for a handwriting scheme that will help you meet the handwriting transcription elements of the 2025 Writing Framework with confidence, WriteWell is perfectly suited to do exactly that.

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