SATs, which stands for Standard Assessment Tests, are an evaluation method used for primary school students in the UK. It is a mandatory exam for year 2 and year 6 students (usually 7 to 11 year olds) in the UK to test their educational progress.

SATs not only help to identify a child’s potential, but they also show the school’s educational delivery standards when the students overall results are combined. The Government uses them as a tool to rank schools according to their success rates and to invest in the quality of education. Parents use SATs to determine the best school for their children to attend. The entire process is managed by the Standards & Testing agency in the UK.

The two papers, KS1 and KS2, contain modules for Reading, Maths, Spelling and Punctuation to test students on these particular domains.

KS1

KS1 is for year 2 students and includes Reading, Grammar, Spelling, Punctuation and Maths papers, with various question styles:

KS 1 Reading module –

• Consists of two papers.
• Paper 1 is 400-700 words long and includes questions in between to test the students’ abilities.
• Paper 2 is an 800-1,200 word reading booklet with questions answered on a separate sheet.
• Both the papers contain 50% of the total marks and are not timed.

KS1 Maths module –

• Consists of two papers to be completed within an hour.
• Paper 1 includes arithmetic questions and accounts for a total of 25 marks.
• Paper 2 is worth 35 marks and includes questions that test problem solving, reasoning and mathematical abilities.

KS1 Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation modules –

• Consists of two papers worth 20 marks each.
• Paper 1 is a spelling test.
• Paper 2, which is sub-divided into two sections, tests the punctuation, grammar and vocabulary of students.

KS2

KS2 is for year 6 students and includes the same modules as KS1 but questions are more difficult.

KS 2 Reading module-

• This is a single paper with three passages. Students have an hour to answer questions about the passages contained in the paper.

KS 2 Maths module –

• Consists of three papers with a variety of different question types.
• Paper 1 is a 30 minute paper, with fixed response questions.
• The second and third papers include a combination of multiple choice, true/false and reasoning based questions.

KS 2 Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation modules –

• Consists of a 45 minute paper, containing all of the above mentioned domains.
• It also includes an aural spelling test of 20 words.

Test Dates:

The KS1 and KS2 for 2020 will be held in May, however the exact date will vary from school to school depending upon its location and a variety of other factors.