Sats stands for “standardised assessment tests”. They are national tests that children in state schools across the country sit at the same time. At KS1, children are assessed in English, mathematics and science, and at KS2 they are assessed in English and mathematics.
The English Sats assess pupils on their knowledge of the rules of punctuation, grammar and the accuracy of their spelling, whereas the reading tests assess their reading comprehension skills and their vocabulary.
The mathematics Sats test the pupils on their knowledge of mathematical operations, their mathematical fluency, their ability to solve problems and their reasoning.
The Phonics Screening Check is conducted to show how well children can use the phonics skills they’ve learned up to the end of Year 1, and to identify students who need extra phonics help. The Department for Education defines the checks as “short, light-touch assessments” that take about four to nine minutes to complete. The screen is administered over a period of time. The check consists of 40 words and non-words that the children are asked to read one-on-one with a teacher. Non-words (or alien words as the children at Ordsall Primary School know them) are a collection of letters that will follow phonics rules the children have been taught, but don’t mean anything – the children will need to read these with the correct sounds to show that they understand the phonics rules behind them.
In 2023 the phonics screening week is the week commencing Monday12th June 2023.
The 2023 KS1 SATs will take place at some point throughout May 2022. The precise days of the tests varies from school to school as they are given a greater degree of flexibility than KS2 SATs. In 2023 they will be completed at some point between 1 May 2023 and 31 May 2023.
There are two reading papers for KS1 pupils to complete, and two spelling, punctuation and grammar tests. The teacher can decide if pupils can have a break in the middle of any of the tests if needed.
The first paper requires pupils to read two extracts and complete “practice questions” with a teacher. Then pupils must complete a mixture of short answer and multiple-choice questions. Each question is worth one mark and there are 20 questions. The test is not timed but should take about 30 minutes to complete.
The second reading paper requires pupils to read a booklet that contains three extracts. The questions are a mixture of multiple choice and short-answer questions. There are 16 one-mark questions and two two-mark questions. The test is worth 20 marks overall. The test is not timed but should take about 40 minutes to complete.
In total, the reading papers last 70 minutes.
The spelling paper requires the student to listen to their teacher as a transcript is read and fill in the missing words on their sheet. There are 20 words that they need to spell. Each word is worth one mark, so there are 20 marks in total.
The grammar and punctuation paper is a mixture of multiple choice and short-answer questions. Pupils will also be asked to add punctuation to pre-written sentences. There are 19 questions, 19 one-mark and one two-mark question. The test is worth 20 marks in total. The test lasts for 45 minutes.
Paper one is on arithmetic and pupils are not permitted to use a calculator. There are 25 questions, each worth one mark, and the test lasts for 20 minutes.
Paper two is on reasoning and pupils are not permitted to use a calculator. There are 32 questions, each worth one or two marks. The test lasts for 35 minutes and is worth 35 marks overall.
The multiplication tables check is an online test for children in Year 4. The children are asked to answer 25 questions on times tables from two to 12. Schools have a 3-week check window in June to administer the MTC and teachers will have the flexibility to administer the check to individual pupils, small groups or a whole class at the same time. The children are given six seconds per question, with three seconds rest between each question, so the test should last less than five minutes. The purpose of the MTC is to determine whether pupils can recall their times tables fluently, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It supports the school to identify pupils who have not yet mastered their times tables, so that additional support can be provided.
In 2023 schools must administer the multiplication tables check within the 3-week period from Monday 5th June 2023.
The National KS2 SATs will take place from Monday 8th May to Thursday 11th May 2023.
The grammar and punctuation paper is a mixture of multiple choice and short-answer questions. Pupils will also be asked to add punctuation to pre-written sentences. There are 50 questions and each question is worth one mark. The test lasts for 45 minutes.
The spelling paper requires the student to listen to their teacher as a transcript is read and spell out the missing words on their answer booklet. There are 20 words that they need to spell and each word is worth one mark each. The last lasts for 15 minutes and is worth 20 marks overall.
The reading paper requires pupils to read a booklet that contains three extracts. They must then answer questions that test them on their comprehension of the three texts. There are 40 questions that together are worth 50 marks, comprising a mixture of multiple choice, short-answer and long-answer questions. The test lasts for 60 minutes, including 15 minutes of reading time.
In total, there are 120 minutes of English tests.
Paper one is on arithmetic and pupils are not permitted to use a calculator. There are 36 questions, with questions worth one or two marks. The test lasts for 30 minutes and is worth 40 marks overall.
Paper two is on reasoning and pupils are not permitted to use a calculator. There are 23 questions, with questions worth one, two or three marks. The test lasts for 40 minutes and is worth 35 marks overall.
Paper three is also on reasoning and pupils are not permitted to use a calculator. There are 21 questions, with questions worth one or two marks. The test lasts for 40 minutes and is worth 35 marks overall.
In total, there are 110 minutes of mathematics tests.