

Year 6 SATs: What's changed and what parents need to know

Why SATs are in the news, what you need to know if you're a year 6 parent and what's changed.


For thousands of 10 and 11-year-olds across the country, the week of May 9 meant sitting SATs tests at school. But 2016's tests caused even more controversy than usual. And the results are due out next week. Here's why SATs hit the news, what you need to know if you're a year 6 parent and what's changed.  

What are the tests actually for? 

Cynics might wonder why kids who are still only at primary school need to be taking so many tests and what they're used for. The Department of Education's guidance on this says: 'They are not qualifications and don't affect your child's future options in school.' This is important to remember to keep perspective – the results will not be going on your offspring's CV! 

So what is actually the point then? As the Department's literature puts it, 'The results are used to ensure that schools are teaching their pupils the essential knowledge and skills in the subjects that are the early building blocks. This is to ensure every child reaches their full potential.' 

Fundamentally they're intended to check that primaries are doing their job properly and SATs results are also used for primary school league tables. 

The reality though is that parents do get concerned about their children's results in the tests. This is partly down to simply wanting them to do well and also because results do get passed to secondary schools, some of which use these for setting and streaming in year 7. 

Some secondaries choose to do their own testing instead but even those who do rely on SATs should still move children around if they do end up in the wrong set. So even if the SATs results don't represent your child's true ability, try not to worry that they will impact their future too much.   

Which subjects will my child take tests in and when?

There's a set timetable, with pupils all taking a specific paper on the same day, regardless of the school they attend.  

The timetable for 2016 is as follows: 

Monday May 9: English reading test

Tuesday May 10: English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling ('GPS') - paper 1: short answers, paper 2: spelling. 

Wednesday May 11: Mathematics – paper 1: arithmetic, paper 2: reasoning. 

Thursday May 12:  Mathematics paper 3: reasoning. 

There's no test for writing – instead teachers assess the children for this. They will also assess children in maths and reading – this means that even if they have an 'off day' in the tests, there is a second view.  

At some schools, pupils sit a science paper too but not all. This will happen during the week commencing the June 6 or June 13 for those primaries selected to take part. 

Why is there controversy this year in particular?

Part of the issue has been that changes to the National Curriculum – which the SATs tests assess the content of – were only introduced when current year 6s were in year 5.  

Given some of the material is viewed as more challenging than under the old curriculum that these children studied in earlier years, this has left teachers struggling to get them to 'catch up' in time. 

Additionally, there's been criticism of just how difficult some of the sample paper questions have been. Examples that have been reprinted in national newspapers include a question about the  'past progressive' and 'subordinating conjunctions' in the grammar test. Nope we don't really know what they are either (and we're professional writers...) 

Can I withdraw my child from school on the test days? 

Yes in theory you can – and some parents did keep their children off during year 2 SATs earlier this month - but you could get fined up to £120 for doing so.  

When will we get the SATs results? 

Test results will be published in July and parents should receive these via school. 

What form will the results take? 

The old system of getting a 'level 4', 5' or 6 has been replaced and from now on, pupils will receive both a raw score, e.g. 35 out of 50 on a particular paper, and a scaled one. The scaled score involves the 'expected standard' being allocated a score of 100; if your child does a little better they might get 105, a lot better is 125. 

If they come in under the standard, they might get 85 or 90. These are just examples because at the time of writing, the Department of Education has said: 'We can't give full information about what the scale will look like yet. We need to wait until pupils have taken the tests and the tests have been marked before we can set the national standard and the rest of the scale.' 

We're hoping that schools or the Department of Education ensure that parents are given enough information to really understand the scaled scores when they do come out. 

What can I do to help my child?

At this stage there won't be any benefit to cramming in last-minute revision with piles of workbooks. The focus should be on helping your son or daughter remain relaxed and refreshed. Sensible bedtimes, a hearty breakfast and reassuring them that the tests really are not the be all and end all are your best bet here. 

Written by Liat Hughes Joshi, author of Raising Children: The Primary Years (Everything Parents Need to Know)

More on prima.co.uk: How parents can help their children prepare for exams

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