SATs information
SATs information
What Do the Tests Comprise?
Maths
The KS2 maths test consists of three papers – one arithmetic paper which lasts 30 minutes and two reasoning papers, each lasting 40 minutes. The arithmetic paper will test your child’s understanding of number and mental and written calculation skills. Some of the questions will require your child to know a range of number facts (such as times tables facts) and others will test their knowledge of formal written methods of calculation such as short division.
The questions in the reasoning papers challenge your child to apply their mathematical knowledge to solve problems in context, such as purchasing things in a shop, scaling recipes or calculating area and perimeter for tiling a floor. These test papers cover a much broader range of maths, including geometry and statistics, while still using number knowledge and arithmetic.
Reading
During the reading test, your child will usually be given three different texts to read, which will be a mixture of fiction and non-fiction writing including poetry. The questions will test a range of your child’s reading skills such as comprehension and inference. They range from multiple choice answers to longer written responses. In school, your child will do many practice tests so that they become familiar with answering the different types of questions within the time limit.
SPaG (Spelling, punctuation and grammar)
The SPaG paper consists of two parts: a punctuation and grammar test and a spelling test. In the grammar and punctuation test, your child will have to answer a range of questions which will test their understanding of grammatical terms, such as relative pronouns and conjunctions, their use of punctuation such as inverted commas for direct speech and their knowledge of language used in context. Like the reading tests, there is a variety of types of question, including multiple choice, matching answers, completing a sentence and writing a short explanation. Some questions may ask your child to insert punctuation correctly into a sentence (with the punctuation formed correctly) or underline part of a sentence such as a subordinate clause.
The spelling test requires children to spell twenty words in context by writing them in a sentence. In the answer booklet, your children will have all twenty sentences with a space for them to write the target spelling word. After each sentence is read aloud, your child will have time to write the word in before the next sentence is read. It is important that their writing is neat and clear for the examiners to mark.
Timetable
- Monday 12th May: English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) papers 1 (questions) and 2 (spelling)
- Tuesday 13th May: English reading paper
- Wednesday 14th May: mathematics papers 1 (arithmetic) and 2 (reasoning)
- Thursday 15th May: mathematics paper 3 (reasoning)