Statutory Testing
Who is it for and how does it affect your child?
SATs, or national curriculum assessments
SATs, or national curriculum assessments, are assessments of primary pupils’ progress and attainment. They are currently completed at the end of key stage 2 (end of primary/ junior phase).
At key stage 2, the tests are more formal and school-level results are normally published in national performance tables allowing for comparison with other schools. These are often known as league tables.
SATs cover core academic subjects – English, maths, and science.
Children in state-funded primary and infant schools now take a new baseline assessment within the first six weeks of entering reception class. This focuses on maths, language, communication and literacy. The results will be used as the starting point to assess how much progress schools are making with their pupils. Results for individual children or schools will not be published.
Children in year 1, which is usually the second year of primary education, also take a phonics screen to check their ability to decode words. They complete the screen again in year two if they don’t reach the expected standard in year one.
From 2021/22 academic year, all qualifying schools will administer an online multiplication tables check for children in year four (normally aged 8 or 9). This will test recall of times tables up to 12.
At key stage 2, the tests are more formal and school-level results are normally published in national performance tables allowing for comparison with other schools. These are often known as league tables.
SATs cover core academic subjects – English, maths, and science.
Statutory assessment at primary school is about measuring school performance, holding schools to account for the work they do with their pupils and identifying where pupils require more support, so that this can be provided.
