Year 5 Music: What to Teach (England)
Your Teacher Information Pack for Year 5 Music: every national curriculum statement, the tests and dates that matter, and trusted links. Tick what you're teaching and send it straight into the lesson plan maker.
- Country
- England
- Key stage
- KS2
- Ages
- 9–10
- Status
- Compulsory national curriculum subject at KS2
- Source
- National curriculum in England – Updated 2021-03-26
- Last checked
- 2026-10-20
Roughly the same age as US Grades 2–5 (approximate: the systems don't line up exactly).
The KS2 programme of study for this subject covers the whole key stage; schools decide what to teach in which year.
Current. The government response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review (Nov 2025) says a revised national curriculum will be published by spring 2027 for first teaching from September 2028.
What to teach
Below is the official programme of study for Year 5 Music: the statutory statements first, then any non-statutory notes and guidance, which schools don't have to follow.
Key stage 2 6 statutory statements
Introduction to Key stage 2 (official text)
Pupils should be taught to sing and play musically with increasing confidence and control. They should develop an understanding of musical composition, organising and manipulating ideas within musical structures and reproducing sounds from aural memory.
Pupils should be taught to:
Key stage 2 Statutory
Pupils should be taught to:
- play and perform in solo and ensemble contexts, using their voices and playing musical instruments with increasing accuracy, fluency, control and expression
- improvise and compose music for a range of purposes using the interrelated dimensions of music
- listen with attention to detail and recall sounds with increasing aural memory
- use and understand staff and other musical notations
- appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality live and recorded music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians
- develop an understanding of the history of music
Assessments and key dates
There are no national tests or checks in Year 5. Your school will use its own assessments.
Official documents
Trusted free resources
- Oak National Academy – Free, full lesson sequences for KS2 (government-funded).
- BBC Bitesize – Short videos and quizzes by key stage and subject.
Links only: we don't copy their content and we aren't connected to these organisations.
More packs
Other subjects in Year 5: English, Maths, Science, Art and Design, Computing, Design and Technology, Geography, History, Languages, PE.
Find another TIP · National curriculum overview
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Department for Education, National curriculum in England: music programmes of study (GOV.UK), © Crown copyright.
Statements in the curriculum lists are copied word for word from GOV.UK; everything else on this page (headings, notes, summaries) is written by us. Classfern is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Department for Education or the Standards and Testing Agency. Always check the official documents linked on this page.
Questions teachers ask
Is music compulsory in Year 5?
Yes. Music is a compulsory national curriculum subject at KS2 in England (national curriculum framework, figure 1).
Is the Year 5 content set out year by year?
The KS2 programme of study for this subject covers the whole key stage; schools decide what to teach in which year.