How can you tell they’ve got it: Academic Vocabulary?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Use academic vocabulary (e.g., analyse, evaluate, justify, convey, imply) accurately and appropriately in essay writing; Incorporate domain-specific terms from a subject studied (e.g., 'photosynthesis', 'legislature') into explanatory writing; Draw a new word or phrase from a text read and use it consciously in own writing or speech. Or just try it together: Does your child pick up new words from books and lessons and actually use them in their own writing and conversation — not just understand them when someone else uses them?

English Vocabulary Ages 11–14

Academic Vocabulary

Your child can learn and use exact school words, like analyse and evaluate. They pick them on purpose to make writing clearer.

In curriculum terms

Acquire and use accurately a broad range of general academic vocabulary and domain-specific words — drawing new vocabulary from reading and listening and deploying it consciously in writing and speech to achieve particular effects

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Use academic vocabulary (e.g., analyse, evaluate, justify, convey, imply) accurately and appropriately in essay writing
Incorporate domain-specific terms from a subject studied (e.g., 'photosynthesis', 'legislature') into explanatory writing
Draw a new word or phrase from a text read and use it consciously in own writing or speech

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Try this together

Does your child pick up new words from books and lessons and actually use them in their own writing and conversation — not just understand them when someone else uses them?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Choosing Formal Vocabularyages 10–11Academic vocabulary deployment extends KS2 formal vs informal vocabulary

Vocabulary Strategiesages 11–14Acquiring new vocabulary requires word-solving strategies to learn words independently

Academic Vocabularythis skill · ages 11–14

Unlocks

Nothing on the map depends on this yet.

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9E5LA08medium confidenceYear 5 · Language

understand how vocabulary is used to express greater precision of meaning, including through the use of specialist and technical terms, and explore the history of words

AC9E6LA03medium confidenceYear 6 · Language

explain how texts across the curriculum are typically organised into characteristic stages and phases depending on purposes, recognising how authors often adapt text structures and language features

AC9E6LA08low confidenceYear 6 · Language

identify authors’ use of vivid, emotive vocabulary, such as metaphors, similes, personification, idioms, imagery and hyperbole

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

EN3-VOCAB-01medium confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

EN3-SPELL-01medium confidenceEnglish K-10 · Stage 3

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2E5LA08medium confidenceEnglish · Level 5 · Language strand

VC2E6LY03medium confidenceEnglish · Level 6 · Literacy strand

VC2E5LY06medium confidenceEnglish · Level 5 · Literacy strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Advanced Figurative Languageages 11–14 Vocabulary Strategiesages 11–14 Choosing Formal Vocabularyages 10–11 Dialects & Registersages 10–11

All Vocabulary skills →