Parents' Guide to SATs Testing

We aim to administer assessments calmly and with minimum fuss so that are children are not unduly anxious about the tests.  We often refer to them as "quizzes".  All we ask is that parents are aware of the dates and ensure that children are not over-tired and arrive at school on time.

We are awaiting the publication of the parents' guide for SATs testing which is a useful resource when considering how best to prepare your child.  Class teachers will also provide advice nearer the time.

All SATs testing will take place in May 2024.

Please see below the dates scheduled for the tests and note that absence during the testing period will not be authorised.

SATs Testing Dates

KS1 SATs

These will take place during May at times scheduled by the class teacher

KS2 SATs - these are set dates and cannot be rescheduled

Monday 13th May 2024   

Grammar, punctuation and spelling paper 1

Grammar, punctuation and spelling paper 2

Tuesday 14th May 2024

English Reading

Wednesday 15th May 2024

Maths 1 Arithmetic

Maths 2 Reasoning

Thursday 16th May 2024

Maths 3 Reasoning

KS2 SATs in Year 6

The 2024 Key Stage 2 SATs will take place in the week commencing 13th May 2024. The tests will take place over four days.

Children in Year 6 (those aged 10-11) will take these tests in their primary school classrooms in England, UK. SATs will be taken in

• Maths
• Reading
• GaPS (Grammar, Punctuation and separate Spelling paper) under formal exam conditions.

Each exam is strictly timed. 

These papers will be marked externally whilst separate teacher assessments in Writing and Science will be designed and marked by their teachers.The results are used to measure the school’s performance (for example, through reporting to Ofsted and published league tables). Your child’s marks will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment to give a broader picture of their attainment.

Key Stage 2 Reading

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, 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.’

Key Stage 2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test

Usually, the GPS test consists of two parts: a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and an aural spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes.

The GPS test includes 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.’

Key Stage 2 maths

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

KS1 SATs in Year 2

Reading

The reading test for Year 2 pupils is made up of two separate papers:

• Paper 1 consists of a selection of texts totalling 400 to 700 words, with questions interspersed
• Paper 2 comprises a reading booklet of a selection of passages totalling 800 to 1100 words. Children will write their answers in a separate booklet

Each paper is worth 50 per cent of the marks, and should take around 30 minutes, but children are not be strictly timed, as the tests are not intended to assess children’s ability to work at speed. The texts in the reading papers cover a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and get progressively more difficult towards the end of the test.

Teachers have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child.

Key stage 1 grammar, spelling and punctuation

Children taking Key Stage 1 SATs may also sit two separate papers in grammar, spelling and punctuation:    

• Paper 1: a 20-word spelling test taking approximately 15 minutes and worth 20 marks.
• Paper 2: a grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test, in two sections of around 10 minutes each (with a break between, if necessary), worth 20 marks. This will involve a mixture of selecting the right answers eg through multiple choice and writing short answers.

Key Stage 1 maths

The Key Stage 1 maths test is made up of two papers:

• Paper 1: arithmetic, worth 25 marks and taking around 15 minutes.
• Paper 2: mathematical fluency, problem-solving and reasoning, worth 35 marks and taking 35 minutes, with a break if necessary. There are a variety of question types: multiple choice, matching, true / false, constrained (e.g. completing a chart or table; drawing a shape) and less constrained (e.g. where children have to show or explain their method).

Children are not allowed to use any tools such as calculators or number lines.

When will the KS1 SATs take place?

The KS1 SATs are due to be administered in May 2024.

Unlike KS2 SATs, KS1 SATs don't have to be administered according to a nationally-set timetable in a specific week. Schools are free to manage the timetable and will aim to administer the tests in the classroom in a low-stress, low-key way; some children won't even be aware they've taken them!

How will the tests be marked?

Although the tests are set externally, they are marked by teachers within the school.

Children are given a scaled score. Their raw score – the actual number of marks they get – is translated into a scaled score, where a score of 100 means the child is working at the expected standard.

A score below 100 indicates that the child needs more support, whereas a score of above 100 suggests the child is working at a higher level than expected for their age. The maximum score possible is 115, and the minimum is 85.

Teacher assessments are also used to build up a picture of your child’s learning and achievements. In addition, your child will receive an overall result saying whether they have achieved the required standard in the tests (your child's actual results won't be communicated to you unless you ask for them).