If your child is in Year 6, SATs are coming. And if you're anything like most parents, you probably have questions - what exactly are SATs, when do they happen, what's tested, and how worried should you actually be?
This guide covers everything: the 2026 timetable, what each paper involves, how scoring works, what the results mean for secondary school, and - most importantly - how to help your child prepare without turning your household into a pressure cooker.
What are KS2 SATs?
KS2 SATs (Standard Assessment Tests) are national assessments taken by all Year 6 pupils in state-maintained primary schools in England. They test what children have learned across Key Stage 2 - roughly Years 3 through 6 - in three areas: English reading, English grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS), and mathematics.
The tests serve two purposes. For schools, they measure performance and feed into league tables. For your child, they provide a baseline that secondary schools use to understand where each pupil is academically and to set ability groups in Year 7.
A few things worth knowing upfront: SATs are not a pass-or-fail exam. There is no "failing" a SAT. They're a snapshot of where your child is at this point in their education. Independent and private schools are not required to administer them, though some choose to. And since 2024, KS1 SATs (taken in Year 2) are no longer compulsory - they've been replaced by optional assessments that schools can choose whether to administer.
KS2 SATs 2026 dates: the full timetable
The 2026 KS2 SATs take place over four days in the week commencing Monday 11th May. Here's the day-by-day breakdown:
Monday 11th May 2026
- English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling - Paper 1: Grammar and Punctuation (45 minutes)
- English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling - Paper 2: Spelling (approximately 15-20 minutes)
Tuesday 12th May 2026
- English Reading (60 minutes)
Wednesday 13th May 2026
- Mathematics - Paper 1: Arithmetic (30 minutes)
- Mathematics - Paper 2: Reasoning (40 minutes)
Thursday 14th May 2026
- Mathematics - Paper 3: Reasoning (40 minutes)
All tests are sat in school during normal hours. Most schools begin papers in the morning, typically between 9:00am and 10:30am, often after a "breakfast club" or soft start designed to settle children before they begin.
If your child is absent for a valid reason on any test day, schools can apply for a timetable variation that allows the child to sit the paper within five days of the scheduled date, provided they have had no contact with pupils who already took it.
What each paper actually tests
Your child will sit six papers in total across the four days. Here's what each one involves and what it's really testing.
English GPS - Paper 1: Grammar and Punctuation
This 45-minute paper is a mix of multiple-choice questions and short written answers. It tests whether your child can identify and use grammatical structures correctly - things like word classes (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs), sentence types, clauses, verb tenses, punctuation rules, and the technical vocabulary of grammar.
The kinds of questions your child will see include identifying the type of a word in a sentence, inserting correct punctuation, rewriting sentences to change tense or voice, and spotting errors. Some parents are surprised by how technical the terminology is - Year 6 children are expected to know terms like "subordinate clause," "modal verb," "relative pronoun," and "determiners."
How to help at home: Create a simple grammar glossary with your child. Flashcards covering word classes, sentence types, and punctuation rules are highly effective. Many parents find that short daily quizzes - even just five minutes over breakfast - build confidence more effectively than longer revision sessions.
English GPS - Paper 2: Spelling
This is a short aural test lasting around 15-20 minutes. A teacher reads a transcript aloud, and children write the missing words in their answer booklet. There are 20 words to spell, drawn from the national curriculum word lists for Years 3-6.
The spelling test rewards consistent practice over time rather than last-minute cramming. If your child has been working on spelling throughout KS2, this paper should feel familiar.
How to help at home: The national curriculum publishes statutory word lists for Years 3/4 and Years 5/6. These are freely available on GOV.UK. Working through them together - even a few words per day - is one of the highest-value revision activities you can do.
English Reading
The reading paper gives children 60 minutes to read a booklet containing approximately three text extracts - usually a mix of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry - and answer questions in a separate answer booklet.
This paper tests comprehension at multiple levels: retrieving information directly from the text, making inferences about characters' feelings or motivations, explaining how language choices create effects, comparing themes across texts, and summarising key ideas. The reading paper is widely considered the most challenging SATs paper because it requires both speed and depth of understanding.
How to help at home: The single best thing you can do is read with your child regularly. This doesn't mean quizzing them - it means reading together, discussing what you've read, asking open questions like "Why do you think the character did that?" or "What do you think will happen next?" Exposure to a variety of text types - novels, newspapers, magazines, non-fiction, poetry - builds the comprehension muscles this paper tests.
Mathematics - Paper 1: Arithmetic
The arithmetic paper is 30 minutes and tests calculation skills: addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals, and percentages. Questions progress from simpler calculations to more complex operations like long multiplication, long division, fraction arithmetic, and percentage/decimal conversions.
This paper rewards speed and accuracy. Children who have fluent recall of times tables and confident mental arithmetic will find it significantly easier to complete within the time limit.
How to help at home: Short, regular arithmetic practice is far more effective than occasional marathon sessions. Even 10 minutes of daily calculation practice - whether using workbooks, apps, or simply asking questions during everyday activities like shopping - builds the fluency this paper requires.
Mathematics - Papers 2 and 3: Reasoning
The two reasoning papers are 40 minutes each and test whether children can apply mathematical knowledge to solve problems. These papers require careful reading, multi-step thinking, and the ability to show working clearly.
Questions might involve word problems, data interpretation, geometry, measurement, algebra, and ratio. The reasoning papers often trip up children who are strong at arithmetic but less practised at translating written problems into mathematical operations.
How to help at home: Teach your child to underline key information in each question, show all working (even when they think they don't need to), and check answers by working backwards. Practising with past papers is particularly valuable for reasoning, as it builds familiarity with how questions are structured and worded.
How SATs scoring works
SATs results are reported as scaled scores, not raw marks. The raw mark your child achieves on each paper is converted to a scaled score ranging from 80 to 120. This conversion adjusts for slight differences in difficulty between papers from year to year, making results comparable across years.
The key thresholds are:
- 100: The expected standard. A scaled score of 100 or above means your child is working at the level expected of a Year 6 pupil.
- 110 and above: Greater depth. This indicates your child is working at a higher standard, demonstrating deeper understanding and more sophisticated application of knowledge.
There is no "pass mark" in the traditional sense, and no child "fails" their SATs. The results are a measure, not a judgement. Schools receive both raw scores and scaled scores, along with a judgement on whether each pupil has reached the expected standard.
Writing is assessed separately through teacher assessment, not a formal test. Teachers evaluate pupils' writing against the interim teacher assessment framework throughout the year and submit a final judgement. Science is also teacher-assessed and does not involve a formal SATs paper, though some schools are selected for moderation.
When do SATs results come out?
Schools can view results online from Tuesday 7th July 2026. Schools decide how and when they communicate results to parents, but you should receive your child's scores before the end of the summer term, typically as part of their end-of-year report.
School-level performance data is published in December 2026, feeding into the 2027 school league tables. Individual pupil results are not published.
Do SATs results affect secondary school?
This is one of the questions parents ask most, and the answer is nuanced.
SATs results do not determine which secondary school your child attends. Secondary school admissions are based on each school's own criteria - typically distance from the school, siblings already attending, and in some cases faith criteria. For grammar school entry, the separate 11-plus exam is used, not SATs.
However, SATs results are used by secondary schools to set classes and ability groups in Year 7. A strong SATs performance can mean your child is placed in a higher set from the start, which may influence the pace and depth of teaching they receive.
How to support your child: what the evidence says
The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) - an independent charity that evaluates the effectiveness of educational interventions - has published extensive research on what actually works to improve children's attainment. Their findings are clear: small-group tuition delivers an average of four additional months' progress per year in primary schools, and one-to-one tuition delivers around five to six months' additional progress.
But before reaching for a tutor, there's plenty you can do at home that the evidence supports:
Start early, but keep it light. According to data from Learning by Questions, 49% of teachers begin SATs revision in the autumn term. You don't need to match that intensity at home, but introducing short, regular practice sessions from January onwards builds familiarity and confidence without creating stress.
Use past papers wisely. Past KS2 SATs papers from 2016 onwards are freely available from the Standards and Testing Agency on GOV.UK. These are the single most valuable revision resource available - they show your child exactly what to expect. But use them strategically: start with untimed attempts to build understanding, then introduce time pressure gradually as confidence grows.
Read together every day. Even 10 minutes of shared reading makes a measurable difference. The reading paper is consistently the most challenging SATs paper, and there is no shortcut to building comprehension skills other than reading widely and discussing what you've read.
Make times tables automatic. Fluent times table recall is the foundation of the arithmetic paper. If your child can instantly recall any multiplication fact up to 12 x 12, they'll have significantly more time and mental bandwidth for the harder questions. If you're looking for free practice, try our interactive times tables tool - it's designed to build speed and accuracy.
Keep the emotional temperature low. The Department for Education's own guidance to parents emphasises that the most helpful thing you can do is keep things calm and positive at home. Your encouragement and reassurance matters more than any revision guide. Children who feel supported and relaxed perform measurably better than those who feel pressured.
When tutoring makes sense
Not every child needs a tutor for SATs, but for some children, targeted support can be transformative - particularly for those who have specific gaps in their knowledge or who lack confidence in a particular subject.
The key is to find support that addresses your child's actual needs rather than generic revision. The EEF's research shows that tutoring is most effective when it's targeted at specific learning gaps, delivered in short regular sessions, and linked to what the child is learning in school.
The traditional barrier to tutoring has been cost. Private tutors in the UK typically charge between £25 and £60 per hour, with qualified teachers at the higher end of that range. For many families, that puts regular tutoring sessions out of reach - particularly when multiple sessions per week might be needed in the run-up to SATs.
Group tutoring offers a middle ground. The EEF's research shows that small-group tuition (groups of two to five) delivers four months' additional progress - remarkably close to the five months delivered by one-to-one tuition - at a fraction of the cost. And in reading specifically, small-group tuition can sometimes be more effective than one-to-one, possibly because group discussion and peer interaction deepen comprehension in ways that individual instruction cannot.
At Bell.Study, we've built our entire model around this evidence. Live online group lessons with qualified, DBS-checked primary teachers cost just £5 per session - a fraction of what private tutors charge. Explore our SATs preparation lessons
Access arrangements for children with additional needs
If your child has special educational needs, a disability, or English as an additional language, they may be entitled to access arrangements for their SATs. These can include additional time, rest breaks, a scribe, a reader, or modified papers.
Access arrangements are managed by your child's school, and they should be discussed well in advance of SATs week. If you believe your child may need adjustments, speak to their class teacher or SENCO as early as possible.
A note on perspective
SATs are important, but they are not everything. They test a narrow range of academic skills at a single point in time. They don't measure creativity, kindness, resilience, sporting ability, musical talent, or any of the other qualities that make your child who they are.
The best thing you can do in the weeks ahead is to be present, be positive, and remind your child that you're proud of them regardless of what any test says. Every lesson between now and May counts - and so does every moment of encouragement.