Colons Worksheet: Year 6 SATs Punctuation

Year 6 SATs SPaG worksheet on colons: 18 questions in the style of the SATs, with answers. Free PDF.

3-page A4 PDF from the Tiger Shark Education question bank (Punctuation): two pages of questions (insert the punctuation) and an answer page. Example questions: Insert a colon in the correct place. The garden attracted many insects bees, butterflies and hoverflies. / Insert a colon in the correct place. There is a good reason for the rule wet floors are dangerous.

What is a colon? A colon introduces something that follows from what comes before it, such as a list, an explanation or an example. The clause before a colon should be complete: We needed three things: flour, eggs and milk. She had one goal: to win. Colons can also introduce a quotation or a subtitle.

Common mistakes and tips: Children often put a colon after words such as ‘including’ or ‘such as’, where it isn’t needed, or after an incomplete clause. Others confuse colons with semicolons. Ask pupils whether the first part makes sense on its own and whether the second part explains or lists something from it.

Quick example to try: give pupils the opening ‘There was only one thing left to do’ and ask them to finish it after a colon with an explanation. Then give ‘We packed three things’ and ask them to finish it with a list.

This topic is part of the Year 6 English grammar, punctuation and spelling curriculum and appears in the SATs. Because the test uses precise terminology, practising with the correct terms here helps children recognise what a question is asking.

How teachers use it: as a ten-minute daily grammar slot, as a homework task, or as part of a mixed revision pack in the run-up to the SATs. Pairs can work through it and compare answers before checking the answer page. Revisiting the same topic a few weeks later is an effective way to check retention.

Building understanding, not just recognition: the SATs ask children to identify features, but the real aim is for them to use grammar confidently in their own writing. After completing the sheet, ask pupils to find examples of the topic in a class text and discuss why the author used them. Then set a short writing task where the feature must be used deliberately, such as a paragraph of a story or a piece of non-fiction. Shared editing, where the class improves a weak sentence together, is a powerful way to show the effect of a grammatical choice. Linking grammar to purpose and effect helps children remember the terminology, because it becomes a tool rather than a label.