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by | Jul 8, 2019

What do the KS2 SATs scores mean?

Key Stage 2 National Test scores explained

Post first published on 14th June 2017. Last updated on 9th July 2019.

In May, 11-year-olds across England took national tests in reading; grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS or sometimes, SPaG); and maths. These tests (often referred to as SATs) are marked externally and the results are sent to schools to be shared with parents and carers. They will also have had their writing assessed by teachers against a national framework.

In 2019, 65% of pupils reached the expected standard in all three topics. 

Parents with older children who took SATs in previous years might remember the old national curriculum levels – an assessment system that awarded children a number from 1–6 as they moved through primary school. In 2016, the system of levels stopped and a new assessment system was introduced. Instead of a level, every child has the raw score they achieve in the test changed into a scaled score, which is then shared with parents and carers.

So, what do the scaled scores mean?

Each child’s raw score in the test (32/50 in the reading test, for example) is turned into a scaled score, based on making comparisons with the other children across the country who took the same test. The scaled scores are centred around 100. That means that:

  • A score of 100 means the child is working ‘at the expected standard’ for a Year 6 child. 80 is the lowest possible score and 120 is the highest.
  • A scaled score of 99 or less means they haven’t reached the government’s ‘expected standard’.
  • In 2019, pupils needed 28 marks out of 50 to reach the expected standard in reading, 58 out of 110 in maths, and 36 out of 70 for spelling, punctuation and grammar.
  • The Standards and Testing Agency have published a scaled score conversion table, showing the raw score required to reach the expected standard in reading, maths and SPaG.

If you’re very interested in scaled scores and how they work, you can find out more about them from the Department for Education.

What information will parents receive from school?

This depends on the school and how they choose to share the results of the tests. The school may share your child’s scaled score or they may tell you if, according to the tests, your child was judged to be working below the expected standard, at the expected standard, or above the expected standard.

In writing, which is based on teacher assessment against a strict set of criteria, a Year 6 child will be judged to be:

  • Working towards the expected standard (this means they haven’t met the expected standard yet).
  • Working at the expected standard (they have shown they can do everything expected of them in their writing across the year).
  • Working at greater depth within the expected standard (this means they have produced writing that is above the level expected of a Year 6 child).

You might receive this information at a parent-teacher meeting or you might be given it in writing.

What should I do if my child hasn’t reached ‘the expected standard’?

In their Information for Parents document, the Department for Education says:

‘There is no reason to worry. The government wants to make sure every child has mastered the basics, so they can do well in life. It is important to understand how well your child is doing in these basic skills as early as possible. The results of the tests and teacher assessments help teachers identify where children might need extra help so they can work with secondary schools to put extra support in place.’

The Key Stage 2 national tests are challenging, and in 2019 just 65% of all Year 6 children in the country met the government’s expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

The first thing to do is to talk to your child’s teacher and find out more about your child’s progress and where they are in their learning at the moment. It may be that the national assessment scores do not reflect where your child is as a reader, writer and mathematician. The school will also have made teacher assessments in reading and maths alongside the tests, so ask how these compare to the test scores.

The next thing to find out is where your child could do with additional support. While the SATs scores might tell which subject they need support with, the teacher will be able to tell you the specific area.

Reading

In reading, is it their reading fluency? Would they benefit from more practice reading books aloud or further support decoding the words on the page? Is it comprehension, understanding the text, that they find tricky? Or is their reading at the expected level, but they struggle to express what they know in writing? In each case, you can support your child to get ready for secondary school, depending on where they need support.

Writing

In writing, is it a particular aspect of writing? Is their spelling or handwriting getting in the way of them expressing themselves clearly? Do they find thinking of ideas to write about difficult? Is it that there were some particular grammatical structures that they didn’t use enough in their writing, meaning there wasn’t enough evidence for the teacher to assess? Your child’s teacher will be able to tell you how you can help your child get ready for Year 7.

Maths

In mathematics, is it a particular area of the subject that they haven’t got the hang of yet? Do they know their times tables well enough? Do they find problem solving tricky? Are they weaker at subtraction than addition? There are lots of ways you can help boost their maths skills so they feel confident and ready to start Year 7.

Education is a long road

However your child has done in the Key Stage 2 national tests, it is worth reminding them that these tests are only a snapshot taken of one week in May. The tests don’t assess the richness of the wider curriculum – music, art, sports, historical or geographical knowledge; nor do they assess the many other attributes that are so important to success at school and in later life – empathy, hard work, resilience, kindness.

Education is a long road and everybody reaches their destination at different speeds and by slightly different routes. And of course, at different times children will need some extra support on that journey. No child’s education should be defined by a test score at primary school. What’s missing from the statement ‘not working at the expected standard’ is one small word.

When the results come in, some children are not working at the expected standard yet.

You may also be interested in:

Books

 Please note: all book links lead to more information on Amazon.co.uk

Bond 11+: English Get Ready for Secondary School

Katherine Hamlyn

Bond is the number 1 provider of 11+ practice, helping millions of children improve their literacy and numeracy skills. Bond Get Ready for Secondary School English provides essential support to help your child adapt to secondary school education, ensuring they have the core skills expected and the confidence to succeed.

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Bond 11+: Maths Get Ready for Secondary School

Andrew Baines

Bond is the number 1 provider of 11+ practice, helping millions of children improve their literacy and numeracy skills. Bond Get Ready for Secondary School Maths provides essential support to help your child adapt to secondary school education, ensuring they have the core skills expected and the confidence to succeed.

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Bond SATs Skills: Spelling and Vocabulary Workbook

Age 10 – 11

Bond SATs Skills Spelling and Vocabulary Workbook: 10-11 years has been developed to build core English language skills. With renewed focus on spelling and vocabulary throughout the National Curriculum, this book will help children establish the knowledge needed in key assessments.

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Bond SATs Skills: Grammar and Punctuation Workbook

Age 10 – 11

Bond SATs Skills: Grammar and Punctuation Workbook: 10-11 years builds and extends grammar knowledge in preparation for the Key Stage 2 SATs English grammar, punctuation and spelling test. Comes with essential information on grammar and punctuation to support children and parents, as well as quick quizzes at key points to recap on what has been learned in previous units.

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Bond SATs Skills: Arithmetic Workbook

Age 10 – 11

Bond SATs Skills: Arithmetic Workbook: 10-11 years helps to develop confident mathematicians who are comfortable with the rapid recall of key mathematical knowledge, required for key assessments such as the Key Stage 2 SATs. Practice maths in bite-sized chunks: the workbook is separated into 10 units, with the final unit providing children with the opportunity to apply their learning in a complete test of all arithmetic skills covered in this book.

 

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Bond SATs Skills: Times Tables Workbook

Age 10 – 11

Bond SATs Skills: Times Tables Workbook for Key Stage 2 focuses on developing confidence and rapid recall of all core times tables and developing an understanding of square and cube numbers, meeting the expectations of multiplication knowledge in the National Curriculum for Key Stage 2. Included times tables lists provide a quick reference that can be used as prompts for the questions in each unit of the book.

 

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Bond SATs Skills: Maths Test Papers for SATs practice

Age 9 – 11

This test paper pack includes two full sets of Key Stage 2 SATs-style maths test papers to enable children to practise for National Curriculum SATs assessments. These tests develop children’s exam skills of time management and performing in exam conditions and provide invaluable insight into the approach to testing that children will face when taking their SATs at the end of Year 6.

 

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Bond SATs Skills: English Test Papers for SATs practice

Age 9 – 11

This test paper pack has been created by Bond to prepare children for National Curriculum Key Stage 2 SATs assessments at the end of Year 6 in primary school. It includes two full sets of English tests, including all of the papers children will sit as part of their English assessment. Covers the reading comprehension test and grammar, punctuation and spelling papers, and includes accompanying audio spelling tests to reflect the delivery of the SATs spelling assessment.

 

Buy on Amazon >