Year 6 SAT's: What You Need To Know

Year 6 children will sit tests in:

• Spelling, punctuation and Grammar (two papers)
• Reading (one paper)
• Maths (three papers)

These tests are both set and marked externally, and the results are used to measure the school’s performance (for example, through reporting to Ofsted and published league tables). Your child’s marks will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment to give a broader picture of their attainment.

Key Stage 2 Reading

The reading test 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.

There will be a selection of question types, including:

• Ranking/ordering, e.g. ‘Number the events below to show the order in which they happen in the story.’
• Predicting: e.g. - 'Can you predict what will happen after Tom meets Oliver in the next chapter?'
• 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 year was Jungle Book published?'
• 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.’

Key Stage 2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling test

The grammar, punctuation and spelling test consists 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 adjectives 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.’

Key Stage 2 Maths Test

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; addition, subtraction, division and multiplication of fractions; percentages of an amount; 

Papers 2 and 3 will involve a number of question types that test how a child can apply their mathematical knowledge to longer mathematical problems, 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