Key Stage SATs – KS1 and KS2 in England

SATs are Standard Assessment Tests conducted by primary schools in England for children in Year 2 and Year 6 to check their academic progress. KS1 is for Year 2 and it consists of Reading and Maths, and KS2 is for Year 6 and it consists of English Reading, English Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, and Maths. Additionally, they will also be assessed in Speaking, Listening, Writing, and sometimes even Science. SATs are also sometimes called National Curriculum Tests.

What are the SATs used for?

SATs are predominantly used for two purposes. Firstly to see how well schools are performing and secondly to see how well children individually have learnt.

The SAT scores are useful as:

a way for both parents and teachers to learn more about a child’s academic strengths and weaknesses
help teachers understand how children are doing in comparison to their peers not only within the same school, but also nationally.
a useful tool to check how well a child has progressed from KS1 to KS2
they are a good tool to check when the child is ready for KS2 to KS3 movement
Academic authorities such as headmasters and local authorities use it to understand school performance

Are the SATs compulsory for all children?

KS1 is optional, but KS2s are compulsory. Please note that while it is the children who are giving the test, it is the school that is being tested and not the children.

Many children will get more homework as SATS approaches. At a basic level , helping to keep children calm and helping them manage their homework will be something useful parents can do.

At another level parents can develop an understanding of a child’s weak areas and try to help them. They might do this using Current KS1 year 2 SATS papers and KS2 year 6 SATS papers that are available free.

How are the tests scored?

The raw scores of children are normalized. A score of 100 means the child is performing as expected in 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.