What are SATs?

Children in English schools used to sit Standard Assessment Tests 'SATs' twice during their school career. The first time was in Key Stage 1, when they had tests in Year 2. Children across the country were tested in maths and reading. May 2023 was the last year where these tests were compulsory for schools to complete.

The next time children took SATs was at the end of Key Stage 2 in Year 6. These are still compulsory and our Year 6 children will need to sit them this academic year.

This year, SATs week will be 12th – 15th May 2025. These are more formal than the previous Key Stage 1 tests; they consist of written papers (in English and Maths) that are 40 to 60 minutes long and can sometimes be quite daunting for this age group. The papers are sent away for marking and the results are returned to school in July and will be shared with you in your child’s End of Year Assessment Report to Parents.

SATs aren’t about passing or failing, but are used to reflect the level your child is working at. We don’t see them as a one-off period in the school calendar but as a part of the overall teaching your child receives throughout their whole time at primary school. We aim to ensure your child is as prepared as they can be to minimise any stress they may feel about the assessments.

How can you help your child?

The key to making SATs less stressful for your child is not to panic yourself as this will put your child under enormous stress and this makes it very difficult for a child to learn. Children are well-prepared for SATs throughout their school life. One way you can support your child is by regularly supporting them with their homework.

At the start of Year 6, your child can loan revision books to support their home learning. There are also a lot of commercially published and very useful practice materials available and a number of very good websites to support learning in general – but please remember to only give them extra work to do in moderation.

 

What is the Multiplication Tables Check?

The Multiplication Tables Check (MTC) is a key stage 2 assessment to be taken by pupils at the end of year 4 (in June). The MTC’s purpose is to ensure times table knowledge is at the expected level. The multiplication tables check (MTC) is statutory for primary schools.

The Multiplication Tables Check is an online test where the pupils are asked 25 questions on times tables 2 to 12. For every question, the child has 6 seconds to answer, and in between the questions, there is a 3-second rest. Questions about the 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 times table come up more often. The questions are generated randomly based on the rules of the MTC.

How to prepare

A good way to prepare is to start early and build a daily routine practising the times tables. With regular practise children will learn all the questions and gain confidence. We suggest practising 10 to 15 minutes a day for optimal results. All children from Year 3 upwards have access to TT Rockstars and this is an engaging resource that supports them to develop times table fluency.

 

What is the Phonics Screening Check?

The phonics screening check is an informal test that children will need to complete at the end of year 1 (June). During the test, which is designed to test their ability to decode words using their phonics knowledge, children will be required to read a mixture of 40 real and nonsense words.

The phonics screening check is an important part of children’s early phonics education. While it isn’t conducted under normal test conditions and won’t determine whether or not they progress into year 2, it’s a crucial assessment as it shows how well their reading and phonics skills are developing.

The phonics screening check is made up of two distinct sections:

• In Section 1, children will be encouraged to read out words that follow simple structures such as CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) and CVCC (consonant-vowel-consonant-consonant). These words will contain the Grapheme-Phoneme correspondences that pupils will have learned about in previous phonics levels, as well as some consonant and vowel digraphs.
• In Section 2, children will have some more challenging words to decode that follow complex structures including CCVCC, CCCVC and CCCVCC. They’ll also encounter words with split digraphs, trigraphs and digraphs that can be used to represent more than one sound.

How do I prepare my children for the phonics screening test?

Now that we know the answers to ‘what is the phonics screening check?’, you’ll no doubt be wondering how you can best help your little ones to prepare for them.

By the time that they’re about to take the phonics screening check at the end of year 1, children will have gone through five of the six phonics phases. During these phases, children will have learned all of the 40 phonemes (units of sound) and many of the graphemes that represent them. They will have also learned about digraphs, trigraphs, adjacent consonants and will have practised reading polysyllabic words.

There are plenty of activities, exercises and simple things you can do to support them both in school and at home, such as:

• Reading with your child: Taking some time out every day to read with your child can be greatly beneficial for their phonics learning and screening preparation. You could try reading some unfamiliar books and stories with them as well as ones they’ve already read, as this will expose them to some new, unfamiliar words and spellings.
• Breaking down words: If you and your child come across a new word, and they’re having trouble sounding it out, try segmenting it into its different sounds with them and then blending it together again.
• Brush up on phonics terms: Even though there are many confusing phonics terms, knowing about them will help you to understand what’s expected of your child and where they can improve. See the Little Wandle Parent Zone for lots of advice and support Little Wandle Parent Zone

And if a child struggles with decoding words, remember the following tips:

1. Don’t worry. Children learn at different rates, so relax and work at their own pace.
2. Be positive. The goal is to encourage children to read fluently and, once reading, to love doing it. Getting annoyed or frustrated can only be detrimental to the development of their skill.
3. Try another route. If a child doesn’t quite understand the word they’ve just decoded, explain its meaning.
4. Follow directions. The English language is read from left to right, so make sure to point out that they need to say each sound in the word from left to right.
5. Point and blend. Blend the sounds being read out by pointing to each letter (or letter group) while reading and running a finger under the whole word.