Year 6 SATs
Year 6 SATs were overhauled to be in line with the new National Curriculum in May 2016. If your child is sitting Year 6 SATs in 2024, read on for the most up-to-date information for parents.
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 test
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.’
In 2018 the Department for Education announced that the reading content of the KS2 SATs will be more closely linked to the curriculum in future to ensure children are drawing on their knowledge when answering reading comprehension questions.
Key Stage 2 grammar, punctuation and spelling test
The grammar, punctuation and spelling test consists of two parts:
a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and 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.’
Key Stage 2 maths test
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