Key stage 2 SATS
Key Stage 2 SAT Tests
KS2 SATs were overhauled to be in line with the new national curriculum in May 2016. These tests are sat by all Year 6 pupils to mark the end of Key Stage 2. The tests are set by national govenment and give a picture in line with pupils across the country. They are set externally and sent away for marking centrally. The results and outcomes are returned to school a few weeks after the tests take place. All tests take place across a week at the end of May and a strict timetable of what tests to adminster on which days is given to staff in school.
Coronavirus and the KS2 SATS
In Summer Term 2020 the government cancelled all KS1 and KS2 SAT tests and all children were given a teacher assessment level. This was due to the wide scale closure of schools in March 2020. However, it is currently the govenment intention that SAT tests 2021 will go ahead as normal.
Monday 10 May 2021
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions
English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: spelling
Tuesday 11 May 2021
English reading
Wednesday 12 May 2021
Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic
Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning
Thursday 13 May 2021
Mathematics Paper 3: reasoning
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The Tests
In the summer term of 2016, children in Year 2 and Year 6 were the first to take the new SATs papers. The new-style SATs for English and maths reflect the new national curriculum, and are more rigorous than previous years' tests. There is also a completely new SATs marking scheme and grading system which has replaced national curriculum levels.
At the end of Year 6, children sit tests in:
- Reading
- Maths
- Spelling, punctuation and grammar
These tests are both set and marked externally, and 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 SAT
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 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar SAT
The grammar, punctuation and spelling 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 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.’
Key Stage 2 Maths SAT
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 are the SATS marked?
The previous national curriculum levels have been scrapped, and instead children are given scaled scores (the School Run webiste provides a useful guide to these parents' guide to primary school grading and SATs codes)
You will be given your child’s scaled score and whether they have reached the expected standard set by the Department for Education (‘NS’ means that the expected standard was not achieved and ‘AS’ means the expected standard was achieved).
The range of scaled scores available for each KS2 test is:
- 80 (the lowest scaled score that can be awarded)
- 120 (the highest scaled score)
The expected standard for each test is a scaled score of 100 or more. If a child is awarded a scaled score of 99 or less they won't have achieved the expected standard in the test.