All about SATs

All about SATs

If you’ve a child in Year 2 or 6, it won’t be long before SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) start to be a key discussion point at the school gate, assuming they aren’t already.

Even if you have some experience of SATs with older children, you’ll find the goals posts have changed with 2016 seeing the introduction of new SATs.

Confused about what all this means for your child? Read our guide.

To go back to basics, SATs are compulsory national tests carried out by all state schools. Children in England are required to take SATs at the age of seven, 11 and again when they are 14.They are designed to assess how your child’s abilities compare nationally with other children in the same year group, and they comprise of a mixture of teacher-led and test-based assessments, depending on the age of your child.

In the summer term of 2016, children at the end of Key Stages 1 and 2 will sit the new SATs papers. So, if your child is in Year 2 or 6, they will be among the first pupils to take the new test.

SATs have been overhauled in both KS1 and KS2 to reflect the changes to the National Curriculum, which was introduced from September 2014.

In the new SATs, reading and writing will be separate tests, and equal weighting will be given to all three SAT subjects including maths. This means that English is now more significant, with writing – namely SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) – playing a prominent role.

More about the tests

Key Stage 1

Year 2 children will take SATs in three areas: reading; English grammar, punctuation and spelling; and maths. The Department for Education (DFE) requires schools to carry out KS1 tests during May 2016. However, specific dates have not been set and most schools will aim to carry out the tests as part of a child’s usual numeracy and literacy practice. Most children will be unaware that they are being ‘tested’.

The reading assessment constitutes two papers. Each paper is worth 50% of the marks, and should take around 30 minutes, but children will not be strictly timed as the tests are not intended to assess children’s ability to work at speed. The texts in the reading papers will cover a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and will get progressively more difficult towards the end of the test. Teachers will have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child.

Two separate papers will be set in grammar, spelling and punctuation, and two further papers for maths, for which children will not be able to use any tools such as calculators or number lines. 

Key Stage 2

Year 6 SATs will be administered during the week starting 9 May 2016. 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. 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 15 minutes.

Children will sit three papers in maths; an arithmetic test of 30 minutes and two reasoning tests, with 40 minutes allowed per paper. Given the tests are timed and must be carried out within a certain week, Year 6 children will doubtless be aware that they are being assessed. Read ‘Preparing for SATs’ for some ideas about how best to support your child through the experience.

Scores and results

Although the tests are set externally for KS1, they will be marked by teachers within the school. In contrast for KS2, all papers will be externally marked.

Instead of the old National Curriculum levels, all children will be given a ‘standardised score’ (see ‘Standardised score’ box below for more detail). Other national curriculum subjects, including speaking and listening, science and computing, will be assessed by your child’s teacher based on their work throughout the year.

Overall, the consensus among teachers is that the new SATs will be more challenging. Yet the Government is setting tougher targets for schools to meet. The DFE wants 85% of pupils to reach the expected national standard at the end of KS2, which is a sharp rise on the 65% marker formerly demanded.

Until September 2014, children’s progress was assessed using National Curriculum levels. The government has now removed ‘level descriptors’ from the National Curriculum and schools are expected to use a ‘scaled score’.

This scoring method is widely used for school assessments across the world. To calculate a child’s scaled score, their raw score – in other words, the actual number of marks they achieved – will be converted into a scaled score. This is used to show whether the child has achieved the national standard for that subject.

In KS1 the score that your child is given may not be the result they achieved in their SATs, but a score based on SATs results, classwork and the teacher’s observations. In KS2, each child will be told their raw score, their scaled score, and confirmation of whether or not they achieved the national standard.

The scaled score needed to achieve the national standard has yet to be confirmed, but for Year 2 it will be roughly equivalent to a level 2b under the old system, while the standard for Year 6 will be similar to a level 4b.

Strictly speaking, it is your school’s job to prepare your child for SATs. But there is plenty you can do at home to offer additional support and alleviate your child’s stress levels if you think they may feel anxious.

Free sample papers for the new SATs are available via www.gov.uk. Getting familiar with the format of the tests well in advance of the actual assessments (especially for KS2), should help to build your child’s confidence and identify areas where further practice might be needed.

In the lead up to the assessments, keep your child’s other pressures to a minimum. Have a quiet weekend beforehand, ensure your child gets to bed early the night before each test and has a good breakfast on the day. Keep positive and remember that SATs are primarily for primary schools to measure pupils’ progress. Many secondary schools use their own or alternative/supplementary assessment methods to determine a youngster’s potential.

 

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