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 What are SATs in the UK?

SATs are tests administered by primary schools in England to children in Year 2 and Year 6 to gauge their educational progress. They are a marker used by the government, and hence parents, of the quality of the education at a school. The setting and marking of SATs are carried out in UK schools by the Standards & Testing Agency.

What does the KS2 reading test entail?

The reading test is a single paper with questions based on three passages of text. Your child will have one hour, including reading time, to complete the test.
There will be a selection of question types, including:

• Ranking/ordering, e.g. ‘Number the events below to show the order in which they happen in the story’
• Labelling, e.g. ‘Label the text to show the title of the story’
• Find and copy, e.g. ‘Find and copy one word that suggests what the weather is like in the story’
• Short constructed response, e.g. ‘What does the bear eat?’
• Open-ended response – inference, e.g. ‘Look at the sentence that begins Once upon a time. How does the writer increase the tension throughout this paragraph? Explain fully, referring to the text in your answer.’

What does the KS2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test entail?

The grammar, punctuation and spelling test consists of two parts:

A grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes

A spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes.

The grammar and punctuation test will include two sub-types of questions:

• Selected response, e.g. ‘Identify the adjectives in the sentence below’
• Constructed response, e.g. ‘Correct/complete/rewrite the sentence below,’ or, ‘The sentence below has an apostrophe missing. Explain why it needs an apostrophe.’

 What does the KS2 maths test entail?

Children sit three papers in maths:

• Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes
• Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes per paper

Paper 1 will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division. Papers 2 and 3 will involve a number of question types, including:

• Multiple choice
• True or false
• Constrained questions, e.g. giving the answer to a calculation, drawing a shape or completing a table or chart
• Less constrained questions, where children will have to explain their approach for solving a problem.

How can I help my child?

• Support and reassure your child that there is nothing to worry about and that they should always try their best. Praise and encouragement!
• Ensure that your child has the best possible attendance at school.
• Support you child with homework tasks.
• Regular reading to establish a love of books.
• Times tables and mental arithmetic is always good to practise
• Make sure that your child has enough down time. School will be extremely tiring in the run up to SATS therefore children will need time to relax in the evenings.
• Make sure that your child has a good sleep and a healthy breakfast everyday!

(SATS revision clubs are running already before school Tues, Wed, Thurs and SATS breakfast club will run on the week of SATS).

When will KS2 SATs take place in 2024?

Monday 13 May 2024
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: spelling test

Tuesday 14 May 2024
English reading

Wednesday 15 May 2024
Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic
Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning

Thursday 16 May 2024
Mathematics Paper 3: reasoning

When do the KS2 SATS result come out?

SATs results day is usually sometime in the second week of July. The exact date changes year-to-year. By this date papers will have been marked by the external examiners, the raw marks converted into a scaled score and made available to schools. Your child will discuss their score with their class teacher and will be informed where they are in terms of the national expected standard.