Year 6 SATs

The 2024 Key Stage 2 tests will take place from 13-16 May. Schools have been asked to keep this period free for administering the Key Stage 2 tests.

After the SATs have been marked, you will be given your child’s raw score (the actual number of marks they get), alongside their scaled score and whether they have reached the national standard. 

The score needed to reach the national standard will be announced after the children have taken the tests.

KS2 Maths

Children will sit three papers in maths:

• Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes


• Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minut 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

KS2 Reading

The reading test will be 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.’

KS2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling

The grammar, punctuation and spelling test will consist 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.’

KS2 Science

Not all children in Year 6 will take science SATs. However, a number of schools will be required to take part in science sampling: a test administered to a selected sample of children thought to be representative of the population as a whole. (Monday 6 to Friday 17 June is the science sampling test period in which your child might sit the tests.) For those who are selected, there will be three papers:

• Biology: 25 minutes, 22 marks
• Chemistry: 25 minutes, 22 marks
• Physics: 25 minutes, 22 marks


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It sounds very intimidating, but these are ‘questions in a physics/chemistry/biology context’, for example:

Biology: ‘Describe the differences in the life cycle of an amphibian and a mammal’
Chemistry: ‘Group a list of materials according to whether they are solid, liquid or gas’
Physics: ‘Predict whether two magnets will attract or repel each other, based on where the poles are facing’

Revision