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STA 2018 KS1 Expected Standard
Year 2 · targeted lesson · 6 pieces
Published exemplification — the same live marking as the product, on government or exam-board material, not a pupil’s book. STA KS1 English writing exemplification. Contains material developed by the Standards and Testing Agency for 2018 national curriculum assessments and licenced under Open Government Licence v3.0.
Created 24 August 2026
Priority gap
Keep present and past tense consistent within a sentence.
Group
Small Year 2 group
Year group
Year 2
Writing context
Across narrative, description and explanation writing, the group need to keep verbs in the same tense within a sentence or short piece.
Priority gap
Keep present and past tense consistent within a sentence.
Evidence from the writing
““There were ... crept ... came ... went ... flew””
““I wonder what is in that box,” thought the child.”
““Mainly in present/imperative form, with no strong evidence of consistent tense control.””
Existing strengths
Likely misconception
The group may think they can change a verb into a different tense whenever a new idea or thought is added, even when the time in the sentence has not changed.
Today we are learning to keep our verbs in the same tense so our writing stays clear.
Why it matters
When we keep to one tense, the reader knows exactly when things are happening.
Read this together
“There were lots of spiders in the cave. The dragon crept behind the enormous box and looks inside. “I wonder what is in that box,” thought the child.”
Diagnostic questions
The feature
Tense consistency
When it's used
When we are writing a sentence or short piece about something happening now (present tense) or something that already happened (past tense).
How it works
First choose the time: now or already happened. Then check each doing word in the sentence matches that time. If one verb jumps to a different time by mistake, change it to match.
Common mistake
Starting in the past tense and then slipping into the present tense halfway through the sentence.
Remember
One time, one line.
Before
The dragon crept to the box and looks inside.
Think aloud
“I need to decide the time first. The verb “crept” tells me this already happened, so I am writing in the past tense. “Looks” is present tense, so it does not match. I will change it to “looked” so both verbs stay in the past tense.”
After
The dragon crept to the box and looked inside.
What changed
The two verbs now match in the past tense, so the sentence stays clear and consistent.
Work on this together
“1) First, you pour in the flour and then you mixed it. 2) The dragon flew over the trees and landed by the cave. 3) If you make him angry, he breathes fire.”
Prompts to use
Task
Write two short sentences about the dragon. Choose one tense before you start: present or past. After writing, underline your verbs and check they all match.
Transfer into their own writing
Go back to one sentence in your own current writing and fix any verb that jumps into a different tense.
Review questions
Exit check
Tell the teacher one sentence of your own in either the present tense or the past tense, then point to the verbs and show that they match.
Judging the outcome
Secure
Completes the exit check accurately and independently.
Developing
Applies the skill with prompting or with partial accuracy.
Not yet secure
Cannot yet apply the skill without direct support.
If secure
Apply the same checking routine to a 3-4 sentence paragraph and include more than one verb in a sentence without changing tense.
If developing
Practise correcting two more mixed-tense sentences with an adult, saying the sentence aloud before writing the new verb.
If not yet secure
Rehearse orally with simple pairs such as “Today I walk / Yesterday I walked” before returning to written sentences.
Future review
In the next independent piece, remind the group to underline verbs during proofreading and check for 'one time, one line'.