When do kids switch from pencil to pen??

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DS is in Y5, in a British school, but we are not in the UK.
His writing is terrible (and spelling, and yes, SENCO is involved).

All school work is done in pencil.
He picked up a biro yesterday to practice his spellings, and WOW, what a difference!

So, at what stage do kids typically switch from pencil to pen in the UK?

But lots of other schools will.

It's not fun for the kids I work with who suffer from anxiety disorders (an estimated 20% of children btw) and mention the sodding pointless things on a regular basis.

My handwriting is a barely-legible mess that absolutely no one in my adult life has ever cared about.

In my school they transition to pens at year 4 but no mention of pen licenses

"Why on earth do children need a licence to operate a pen???" They don't some schools choose to acknowledge a child's handwriting by way of a certificate (pen licence) and just as many schools don't and just allow the child to use a pen when they're not crossing out every other word.

They can get a pen licence in yr3 in my dcs school.
My dd was very excited to get hers.

It's just an incentive. There seems to have been a renewed emphasis on good penmanship within the national curriculum.

Children work towards it from Yr3 in our school - by Yr5 they can transition to pen even if they haven't achieved their "licence".

DS got his pen licence 2weeks ago, was awarded in assembly. He and a few others in his class got it, whilst others where from older years, he is year 1.
IMO his writing is neat for a 6yo, and seems to be better in pen.
England - north west

We have some Yr 6 children still writing in pencil. It depends how neat their handwriting is. If it's poor they stay in pencil - they need to have neat handwriting to earn their pen licence.

Y3 here and no licence nonsense in any of the local schools.

A pen “licence” isn’t really nonsense. They’re little children! When their handwriting is deemed neat enough for them to use a pen it’s a big achievement - so they get a little certificate (the licence) and a pen to use. It’s a positive thing.

It’s called scribe here and it’s causing a lot of sadness for a lot of children in my child’s class at the minute especially as the teacher reads out at the beginning of the week who is close to scribe and who’s not and exactly why they can’t get scribe yet. Once they get scribe they can earn super scribe which is a fountain pen

Have you tried a different type of pencil. My ds' teacher has told me his writing has much improved since using the stabilo pencil.

I personally can’t see how a pencil leads to decent handwriting. Ideally it needs to be very sharp but most children do not sharpen often enough. In my opinion pencil handwriting is worse not better than a decent pen. DH sometimes writes with a pencil and I hate it, looks awful and unreadable.

I am from Germany and in most nurseries children use the last year to learn how to use a pen and do letter forming. It strengthen fine motor skills. In primary schools children then move to a fountain pen within a couple of weeks and nobody looks back. We were told to use only mechanical pencils if we had to write with them for example for maths graphs or science.

in our UK school they use pencils until they feel ready for a pen, but in year 6 they all have to use a fountain pen!! no idea why as year 7 they back to using normal pens, DD really struggled with a fountain pen

At home my kids just write with whatever is nearest, pen or pencil. I don't really get this graduating thing. Fountain pens?

Writing with pencil is easier for beginner writers because a soft pencil will move across the paper much easier than a pen nib/ point. Obviously felt tips are easier but often bleed into the paper so can be messy and young children when learning how much pressure is required break the delicate tip.

Have you tried different types of pencil? My daughter uses these Stabilo ones and the difference is significant. She finds them so much easier to write with.

STABILO EASYgraph Handwriting Pencil Right Handed - Petrol Pack of 2 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003V9KQYC/ref=cmswwrcppapiii_p7zxCbK3CFD6M

The stabilo pen was the implement suggested for my seven year old this year. Preferable to a pencil in our case

Have you got a link for something similar to what your child is using, Tomorrowillbeachicken?
I seem to be coming up with a load of felt tips!
Can try one over the summer, but doubt I'll find one out here!

This, but didn’t get from here.
www.cultpens.com/i/q/SB01193/stabilo-easy-original-handwriting-pen?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkfriBRD1ARIsAASKsQLdfvDojVRnq0axCe4ZxB3DJ5jX6tktfvrUmaQiQesHbpMhs-lhYtQaAgxuEALw_wcB#SB01193-LH-BU-1

Thank you.

At my dc's school they get a pen licence when their handwriting is good enough in primary. Some children get them in year 2 and others never get one.

Year 5 at our school. Pen licence system is to encourage careful handwriting and careful spelling and works very effectively for this. Sometimes it is easier to write in pen than pencil and sometimes children are given pens to help tidy up their writing. Not sure it would help spelling though.

Fountain pen from after Christmas in year 2 here - whole class switch from pencil to pen together and spend a morning being instructed in how to use a fountain pen, and come home full of awe and wonder and how beautifully they can suddenly write.

Both my boys had dreadful writing in pencil but their fountain pen writing is so beautiful you could frame it. DD had beautiful writing in both pencil and pen, but I find the "pen licence" thing ridiculous because it is easier to write beautifully with a nice pen than a pencil. So very many childrens self esteem and motivation and confidence to write must be being damaged by the pen licence stupidity, when if they were allowed to use a pen their writing would improve!

Most dc got a pen licence sometime in year 3 or 4. My dc never got one, was just told to use a pen at the start of year 5.