SATS

In the summer term of 2018, children in Year 6 will sit their SATs papers during the week commencing Monday 14th May. These tests in English and maths will reflect the new national curriculum, and are intended to be more rigorous. There is a completely new marking scheme to replace the existing national curriculum levels.

At the end of Year 6, children will sit tests in:

  • Reading
  • Maths
  • Spelling, punctuation and grammar

These tests are both set and marked externally

 

The Reading Test:

This is a single paper with questions based on three passages of text. Your child will have one hour, including reading time, to complete the test.

Question types, include:

  • 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.’

 

The Maths Tests:

Children sit three papers in maths:

  • Paper 1: arithmetic, 30 minutes
  • Papers 2 and 3: reasoning, 40 minutes per paper

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

 

Spelling Punctuation and Grammar Tests (SPaG):

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 adverbial phrase 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.’

 

How are the tests marked?

The previous national curriculum levels have been scrapped, and instead children will be given scaled scores. 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 average. The score needed to reach the national average is announced until AFTER all the papers have been marked and returned to schools.

 

Practice Papers:

The DfE has released one set of sample papers for the new SATs, which your child will have completed as a 'mock' practice earlier this year. You can also access some  free Year 6 SATs papers here from 'The School Run' - a parents information website; these relate to the old SATs, so the content and format of the new papers will be different, but they are still useful to help your child familiarise themselves with exam technique. Also http://www.compare4kids.co.uk/sats-papers.php is a really good website where you can get past papers or practice questions.