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A Parent’s Guide To Year 6 SAT’s

Here is some important information about the Year 6 SAT’s. They will be starting on 13th of May 2019 until Thursday 16th of May 2019. 

Below is the timetable of when your child will be sitting each SAT. There are no tests on the Friday of that week.  

Monday 

The children will need to complete the Grammar, Punctuation and Vocabulary Test. It includes a range of question types, including questions where children must tick a box or circle particular word types. Later questions are more challenging, such as having to tick within a box of suggested answers. This test takes 45 mins and is worth 50 marks.

The second test on Monday will be the Spelling Test. In this test there are some sentences read to students and they must write the correct spelling into the gap. This test takes 15 mins and is worth 20 marks.

Tuesday 

The children will sit the Reading Test that lasts for 60 mins and is worth 50 marks. They will get a reading booklet that consists of different texts including fiction and non-fiction. The test includes different types of questions such as having to investigate the text to find and copy a word. There may be questions where they must talk about the language choice of the author and where they have to tick true or false, or tick one particular statement. 

Wednesday 

The first maths test is taken on this day starting with the Arithmetic test (calculations without a context). The children need to answer 40 questions in 30 minutes. These range from simple arithmetic which can be done mentally, to calculations with fractions and later calculations that require the column methods. For some questions there are 2 marks available, so the children get 1 mark for the working out even though the final answer is incorrect. 

Wednesday and Thursday 

Children also need to complete Reasoning Paper 2 and 3 on these days. They each last 40 mins and are worth 35 marks. These problems and presented in a context and start off easier, getting gradually harder. These require more detailed calculations. Again, method marks are available, this means if children have carried out the method correctly, but the final answer is not accurate then they would get 1 mark.  

Reporting Results 

At the end of the test week the papers are marked externally and returned to schools in early July. Results are presented using a scaled score between 80 and 120. 100 represents the new expected standard for 11-year olds. Results of the test are reported back to parents at the end of the academic year, showing both the scaled score and whether the child has met the expected standard. In addition, teachers will make a separate teacher assessment.  

Remember to Relax 

As a parent you can support your child by making sure they are not worried about the tests and to help them put their minds at rest. We want your child to do their best of course but we don’t want them to be panicking. If you do have any worries be sure to ask your child’s class teacher or myself (Celia – Primary Specialist) here at Spark Academy.