KS2 SATs 2026: The Complete Parent Guide

KS2 SATs 2026 take place during the week of 11–14 May 2026, covering Reading, Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS), and Mathematics for all Year 6 pupils in state-maintained primary schools in England. Results are released to schools on 7 July 2026. Understanding the format, how scaled scores work, what the results mean for secondary school, and how to support preparation makes the process significantly less stressful for both children and parents.

KS2 SATs 2026 Dates and Timetable

Date	Subject	Papers
Monday 11 May 2026	GPS (Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling)	Papers 1 (Spelling) and 2 (Written)
Tuesday 12 May 2026	Reading	One 60-minute paper
Wednesday 13 May 2026	Mathematics	Paper 1: Arithmetic (30 min)
Thursday 14 May 2026	Mathematics	Papers 2 and 3: Reasoning (40 min each)

KS2 SATs Format: What Each Test Contains

Reading: One paper, 50 marks, 60 minutes. Three reading passages of varying text types (fiction, non-fiction, poetry or hybrid) with questions testing retrieval, vocabulary, inference, and authorial intent. Questions progress from easier to harder through the paper.

Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS): Paper 1 is a 20-minute spelling test (20 words dictated) worth 20 marks. Paper 2 is a 45-minute written grammar and punctuation test worth 50 marks, covering word types, punctuation, clauses, tenses, and sentence functions across the KS2 English curriculum.

Mathematics: Three papers totalling 110 raw marks. Paper 1 Arithmetic (30 min, 40 marks) tests calculation — addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages. Papers 2 and 3 Reasoning (40 min each, 35 marks each) test problem-solving and application across the full KS2 maths curriculum including ratio, algebra basics, statistics, measurement, and geometry.

Writing: Not formally tested. Writing is assessed by teachers throughout the year using the Teacher Assessment Framework (TAF). Results are reported alongside the formal test results as Emerging, Expected, or Greater Depth.

How KS2 Scaled Scores Work

SATs results are reported as scaled scores from 80 to 120, not as raw marks. This system allows fair year-on-year comparison even when paper difficulty varies. A scaled score of 100 means your child is working at the expected standard for Year 6 — the minimum threshold for "meeting expected standard." A scaled score of 110 or above indicates Greater Depth performance, roughly the top 10–15% nationally.

The raw marks needed to achieve a scaled score of 100 vary by year depending on paper difficulty. The Department for Education publishes the raw-to-scaled conversion tables after each year's tests. As a rough guide, in recent years approximately 28–32 out of 50 raw marks in Reading has converted to a scaled score of 100, and approximately 55–62 out of 110 across the three Maths papers. Nationally in 2024, approximately 73% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in Reading and approximately 72% in Mathematics.

What KS2 SATs Results Mean for Secondary School

SATs results do not directly determine which secondary school a child attends — state secondary admissions are governed by separate admissions criteria (distance, siblings, faith, and for grammar schools, 11 plus results). However, secondary schools use KS2 scaled scores extensively for internal setting and grouping decisions in Year 7. A child arriving with scaled scores of 115 in Maths and 108 in Reading will typically be placed in higher ability sets than a child with scores of 95 in both subjects, even at a non-selective school. These initial sets often have inertia — children placed in lower sets in Year 7 sometimes remain there through to GCSE regardless of subsequent progress.

For families whose children are also sitting the 11 plus, SATs and grammar school preparation share significant overlapping content. A child working at Greater Depth (scaled score 110+) in KS2 Mathematics is well-positioned for the numerical reasoning components of GL Assessment 11 plus papers. A child strong in GPS is better prepared for verbal reasoning question types that test grammar and language rules. Families should plan both preparations together to avoid duplication and reduce total workload on Year 6 children.

Three nationally significant statistics about KS2 SATs: approximately 73% of pupils met expected standard (scaled score 100+) in Reading in 2024; approximately 72% met expected standard in Mathematics; and approximately 60% met expected standard in all three core subjects simultaneously — Reading, Writing (teacher assessment), and Mathematics. These figures have remained broadly stable since 2023 following the post-pandemic catch-up period. See our grammar school hub, our SATs tuition service, and our 11 plus tuition page for further guidance.

How to Support Your Child's SATs Preparation at Home

Research on primary school performance consistently shows that reading habit — established over years, not weeks — is the strongest predictor of Reading SATs performance. Children who read widely throughout primary school (not only in Year 6) consistently outperform those who only engage with reading practice when SATs approaches. This is a long-lead investment. For Mathematics, the most effective home support is ensuring calculation fluency — particularly multiplication tables, fraction operations, and percentage calculations — is automatic, since many children lose marks on arithmetic not from lack of understanding but from calculation errors under time pressure.

For GPS, regular practice identifying word types, sentence structures, and punctuation rules is most effective when done little and often — 10–15 minutes three or four times per week — rather than in occasional long sessions. The GPS paper tests specific, learnable grammatical terminology and rules that many children have not fully internalised despite encountering them in class. Targeted revision of the specific GPS topics covered in Years 5 and 6 is the most efficient preparation approach. Work with a specialist SATs tutor to identify which topics need most attention before May.

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