So what are SATs in year 6? 

SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) are designed to evaluate your child’s progress throughout years 3-6 and to compare how your child achieves against other children of their age across the country. 

SATs tests are set by the Department for Education and are marked externally outside the school.

Please find below information regarding the format, structure, timing and administration of the Year 6 SATs for 2024. 

For more information about SATs week and how to support your child during the SATs period – feel free to speak to Miss Gorst. Details about our famous pre-SATs breakfasts are sent out nearer the time. 

Information about Year 6 SATs: English

There are two tests for English – a reading paper, which lasts for one hour, and a grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) paper. There’s no English writing test – this is teacher-assessed in school using independent pieces of writing from over the year and in a variety of subjets. 

The SATs Year 6 GPS Paper:

• In the grammar & punctuation test, your child will need to show they understand a range of grammatical terms.  Examples of these terms could be relative pronouns (such as which, who, that) and conjunctions (but, and, because).

• Your child will also need to show they can use punctuation (such as inverted commas for direct speech) and knowledge of the language used in context.

• The questions in the SPaG paper could be multiple-choice, joining boxes, writing in a sentence or writing a short explanation.

• Some questions may ask your child to insert punctuation correctly into a sentence or identify a section of a sentence.

• In the spelling test, your child will need to spell twenty words by inserting them into a sentence in their answer booklets. After each sentence is read aloud, they’ll have time to write the word before the next sentence is read out.

The SATs Year 6 Reading Paper:

• During the reading test, your child will usually have three different texts to read. These will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction writing, including poetry.
• Your child will answer questions which assess their comprehension and inference skills. Inference means they’ll have to use a mixture of evidence from the text and their own reasoning skills.
• The questions range from multiple choice answers to longer, written responses.
• In school, your child will have done lots of practice questions so that they’re familiar with answering the different types of questions against a set time.

Information about Year 6 SATs: Maths

The maths test consists of three papers – one arithmetic paper of 30 minutes and two reasoning papers of 45 minutes each.

• The arithmetic paper tests your child’s understanding of number, along with mental and written calculation skills. Your child will need to know a range of number facts (such as their times tables). They’re also tested on their knowledge of written methods of calculations (such as short division).
• Papers two and three are reasoning tests. Your child will need to apply their mathematical knowledge to solve problems. This could mean buying things in a shop, adapting recipes for different numbers or calculating area and perimeter for tiling a floor. These test papers cover a broader area of maths, including geometry and statistics, as well as number knowledge and arithmetic.