Is touch typing still taught in schools?

Yes in many schools, but usually as a skill folded into other lessons, not as a course. The most recent survey we found covers US schools, and it suggests that most school and district leaders teach keyboarding in some form. In England, the national computing curriculum does not name typing at all, so whether a child learns it depends on the school.

Most US school leaders say keyboarding is taught, mostly inside other lessons

In a 2024 survey by the EdWeek Research Center, 69 percent of school and district leaders said their school or district teaches keyboarding in some capacity, whether as a standalone course, a classroom skill or both ¹. Only 8 percent of administrators said their school or district taught keyboarding as a standalone class ².

The survey also asked about grades. 84 percent of leaders said their school teaches keyboarding in grades 3 to 5 ³. These are shares of leaders reporting, not of pupils, so they do not show how many children get proper instruction.

The Common Core asks for keyboarding from grade 3, and a page by grade 4

The US Common Core writing standards name keyboarding. The grade 3 standard asks students, with guidance from adults, to use technology to produce and publish writing using keyboarding skills ⁴. The grade 4 standard is more specific: students should show sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting ⁵.

Those are national standards. States adopt them on their own timetables, so the requirement in your school depends on your state's version.

Leaders in more affluent systems report earlier keyboarding

The same EdWeek survey found a gap in how early schools offer keyboarding, as leaders report it. 74 percent of leaders in more affluent systems reported keyboarding instruction in grades K-2, against 51 percent in less affluent systems ⁶. Affluence there is defined by the share of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, as the survey defines it. These are offers that leaders report, not the share of pupils who learn to type.

England's computing curriculum does not name typing

If you are in England, the statutory computing programme of study is the document to check. At Key Stage 1, it asks pupils to use technology purposefully to create, organise, store, manipulate and retrieve digital content ⁷. We read the full Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 text on 2026-10-17, and neither names typing or keyboard skills. The Key Stage 2 section asks pupils to use search technologies effectively instead.

That means typing is not a required outcome in the national curriculum at Key Stage 1 or Key Stage 2, which include the year 3 and year 4 that many parents ask about. A school may still teach it. Academies do not have to follow the national curriculum, and we did not check the frameworks for Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.

A two-year study followed pupils from first to fourth grade

The study followed elementary pupils for two school years. It found that the structured program gave stronger outcomes when used over two consecutive years, especially from first grade to fourth grade ⁸. It compared two specific programs and did not test teacher-led lessons, so it shows that sustained instruction across several grades can pay off, not that any one method is best.

What to do if your child's school does not teach it

1. Ask the school which grade teaches keyboarding and whether it is a class or a skill in other lessons.
2. Check the standard for your child's grade in your state, or in England the computing programme of study.
3. Start at home with short practice, using the home row and one finger per key, as our guide to touch typing describes.
4. Keep it short and regular. Our question on the right age for children explains what the evidence does and does not say about when to start.

For what touch typing involves and how long it takes, read our question on how long it takes to learn, and the overview of typing speed covers the subject as a whole.