1. (Standard Assessment Tests)
Year 6 SATs
(Standard Assessment Tests)

2. This year, the year 6 SATs are in the week beginning Tuesday 3rd June.
What are Year 6 or End of Key Stage 2 SATs?
The SATs are intended to show if your child is working at, above or below the target level for their age.
When are the SATs?
This year, the year 6 SATs are in the week beginning Tuesday 3rd June.

3. Can my child fail a SATs test?
Children are not going to ‘pass’ or ‘fail’ SATs.
It will just show what they have learned and what they can do.
What are the children tested on?
The children are tested on all of the work they have covered in all year groups so far in both Maths and English.

4. What form will the tests take?
English
Reading (45 minutes + 15 mins reading time)
Writing Long 45 minutes and short 20 minutes
Grammar, punctuation (45 minutes)
and spelling (10 minutes)
Maths
Mental Maths (20 minutes)
Written paper A (45 minutes) No calculator
Written paper B (45 minutes) Calculator

5. English Writing
The children are asked to complete two set writing tasks -one short and one long. They may be fiction or non-fiction. There will not be a choice.
The writing must have :
•a good structure
•a beginning, a worthwhile middle and a satisfactory ending
•interesting vocabulary (not “he said, so I said ...so then we ... then we ...”.)
• some correct punctuation (full stops and capital letters.)
• an interesting style (writing in ‘ book language’)
• lots of description (of the characters, of the setting .....)
• it should fit the task

6. What can you do to help?
•Give your child practice in timed writing
•Show how to improve a piece of writing
from ...“the boy sat on the chair”
to ... “the young,windswept boy threw himself dejectedly onto the battered old sofa”

7. HANDWRITING
• writing should be fluent, look as if it is confidently written and not laboured, at all times
• letters must be correctly formed and joined, at all times
• all writing must be joined up and legible, at all times
• tall letters should all be the same size, at all times
• small letters should all be the same size, at all times
... the message is ...
... no longer very good some of the time but pretty good all the time

8. Reading Comprehension
Children have to read through a long booklet containing different types of writing including any of the following …
factual / information writing
a long story
lists
diagrams
magazine or newspaper articles
an interview
poetry
a play
Questions must be answered fully.
Factual information needs to be
quoted directly from the text
e.g. describe how the boy looked...
Opinion and personal response must
be full, considered and relevant.

9. Grammar, punctuation and spelling
The English grammar, punctuation and spelling test at levels 3-5 has two components, worth a total of 70 marks:
a booklet of short-answer questions
a spelling task

10. Grammar, punctuation and spelling (paper 1)
Paper 1, the short-answer questions, consists of between 40 and 50 questions assessing grammar, punctuation and vocabulary. Each question is worth one or two marks with a total for the paper of 50 marks.

11. Grammar, punctuation and spelling (paper 2)
Paper 2, the spelling task, consists of 20 sentences, which are read aloud by the test administrator. Each sentence has a word missing which the child must complete. The task is worth a total of 20 marks.

12. Maths .... Mental Arithmetic
A tape is played to the children.
There is a pause between each
question and the pause gets longer as
the test gets harder.
Children may make jottings but there is no time for calculations.
No equipment is allowed.

13. Typical mental maths questions
5 second questions:
What is double ninety?
What time is it half an hour after ten-fifteen?
10 second questions:
The temperature was three degrees Celsius. It goes down by eight degrees. Write the new temperature.
Add three point three to seven point seven.
Lara spends three pounds fifty-five. She pays with a ten pound note. How much change does she get?
A number multiplied by four equals two hundred and eighty.
What is the number?
15 second questions:
Multiply thirty-five by six.
Nine is half of a number. What is one-third of the number?
Four oranges cost ninety-five pence.
How much does each orange cost to the nearest penny?

14. What do the levels mean? Year 2 Age 7 Year 6 Age 11 Year 8 Age 14
Beyond expectations
Level 4
At level expected
Level 3
Below expectations
Level 2
Level 1

15. Where can we find some past questions?
Great websites for Year 6 children to practise past SATs questions.

16. and finally ... whatever happens your child will get the result which reflects where they are…..rest assured, they have all made progress and nobody could ask more from them!