Tips and advice to prepare for year 6 SATs
What are SATs
Standard Assessment Tests (or SATs) are assessments set by primary schools in England to assess students’ educational progress. Key Stage 1 SATs are sat in Year 2 and Key Stage 2 SATs are sat at the end of Year 6.
Year 6 students take SATs in May and are assessed on what they have learnt over Key Stage 2 (Years 3-6). They provide a useful indication of your child’s progress between the ages of 7 and 11. They help teachers to identify if a child needs additional support in a certain area.
SATs are one of the ways that the quality of education at primary schools across the country is measured. The Department of Education assesses the progress children make between Key Stages with individual school performance, to identify schools which need further support.
What do the Year 6 SATs involve?
Year 6 SATs assess children on Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar (often referred to as SPaG), as well as Reading and Maths. The subject of Science and skills such as writing, speaking and listening are assessed internally.
The Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar, or SPaG, test consists of two papers. The first is 45 minutes long and tests your child’s mastery of Key Stage 2-level grammar and punctuation. The second is a 20-minute aural spelling test. In these tests, students will be assessed on their grasp of the English language and asked to identify parts of speech, correct punctuation and alter the meaning of words.
The Reading test is an hour-long paper, that tests students’ comprehension skills. Children will be shown three passages of text, a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, and then they have an hour to answer questions. Students will be asked ‘what, why, how’ style questions to assess their ability to read and retrieve information. They will also be shown questions which test their inference skills.
The Maths assessment is made up of three test papers. The first paper is 30 minutes long and tests students’ skills in arithmetic. The second and third papers are each 40 minutes long and both test mathematical reasoning. These tests not only assess a child’s grasp of raw maths but also their ability to apply their mathematical understanding to real-life problems.
How are SATs scored?
Year 6 SATs are marked externally and results are returned to schools in July. Teachers will receive a raw score and a scaled score for each student in each subject. The scaled score indicates whether a student has achieved the national standard. Students can achieve a scaled score between 80 and 120. A scaled score of 100 or more means that the child has met the expected standard by the end of Year 6.
How can Atom help?
On Atom, children build subject mastery in English, Maths and Science, with the use of a tailored learning journey, teacher-produced questions, video tutorials and helpsheets. As a parent, you can track and speed up your child’s Year 6 progress and target areas for improvement through custom practice activities. Our in-house teachers hold Live Lessons specifically for Year 6 Students, focusing on the more challenging Key Stage 2 topic areas. Using Atom effectively in Year 6 will ensure that your child feels fully prepared for the SATs and for the transition into Year 7.