SATs Preparation Guide for Year 6 Parents

SATs week arrives in May and for many Year 6 families it is the first time a child has sat formal exams. That combination of unfamiliarity and significance can make the whole thing feel more daunting than it needs to be. This guide is written for parents who want to support their child’s preparation effectively, without adding unnecessary pressure or confusion.

It covers what SATs actually are and what they test, how the results are used, what good preparation looks like at home, and how to help your child arrive at SATs week feeling ready rather than anxious.

1 What Are SATs and Why Do They Matter?

SATs stands for Standard Assessment Tests. They are national tests taken by all children in Year 6 at the end of Key Stage 2. They assess the knowledge and skills children are expected to have developed across primary school in English and Maths, and the results are used in two main ways.

First, they give the government data on how schools are performing nationally. This is the primary purpose of SATs from a policy perspective, and it is worth knowing because it means the tests are designed to measure the school’s teaching as much as your child’s individual ability.

Second, secondary schools receive the results as part of your child’s transition information. Some secondary schools use SATs scores to inform setting decisions in Year 7, though practices vary significantly between schools.

2 What the SATs Papers Cover

SATs are taken across two days in May, typically the second week of the month. The papers cover English and Maths, with specific tests for different skills within each subject.

English SATs

Maths SATs

Children are given a scaled score for each subject. A scaled score of 100 represents the expected standard. Scores above 100 indicate above-expected attainment; scores below indicate below-expected. The maximum scaled score is 120.

3 When to Start Preparing and How Much Is Enough

Most Year 6 teachers begin SATs-specific preparation in January, working through practice papers and past questions alongside the normal curriculum. By the time SATs week arrives, your child will have had several months of school-based preparation.

At home, the amount of additional preparation that is helpful depends on your child. A child who is performing confidently at the expected standard across both subjects may need very little at home beyond the school’s provision. A child who is finding certain areas difficult, or who has significant anxiety about the tests, may benefit from more structured support.

As a general guide:

• From January, short regular practice sessions of 20 to 30 minutes, two to three times per week, are more effective than long infrequent sessions
• Focus home practice on the areas your child’s teacher has identified as needing work, rather than covering everything equally
• Use published practice papers rather than random worksheets, so your child becomes familiar with the actual format, question style, and time pressure of the real tests
• Increase the frequency slightly in April as SATs week approaches, but avoid intensive cramming in the final days before the tests

4 How to Support Maths Preparation at Home

Maths is the area where targeted home support tends to make the most difference, because the arithmetic paper in particular rewards fluency with calculation that improves with practice.

Arithmetic: build calculation fluency

The arithmetic paper tests speed and accuracy on a large number of calculation questions in a short time. Children who can recall multiplication tables automatically, add and subtract confidently with large numbers, and handle fractions and percentages without needing to work from first principles every time will complete this paper much more comfortably than those who cannot.

• Practise times tables regularly until recall is fast and automatic up to 12 x 12
• Work on short division and long multiplication methods, as these appear consistently
• Practise converting between fractions, decimals, and percentages
• Time your child on arithmetic practice papers to build familiarity with working under time pressure

Reasoning: develop problem-solving confidence

The reasoning papers test whether children can apply their Maths knowledge to unfamiliar situations. Many children who can perform calculations correctly in isolation struggle when the same skill is presented in a worded problem or a data context.

• Encourage your child to read worded questions carefully, identify what is being asked, and decide which operation or method is needed before calculating
• Practise reading tables, charts, and graphs and drawing conclusions from them
• Work on geometry: perimeter, area, angles, coordinates, and properties of shapes all appear regularly
• Discuss any questions your child gets wrong together, focusing on understanding why the correct answer is correct rather than simply correcting the mistake

5 How to Support English Preparation at Home

Reading comprehension

The reading paper tests a range of skills including retrieval (finding information stated in the text), inference (working out what is implied), vocabulary (understanding words and phrases in context), and language analysis (explaining the effect of a writer’s choices). Many children lose marks not because they cannot read but because they do not answer what the question is actually asking.

• Read with your child regularly and discuss what you have read: what happened, why a character acted as they did, what a particular word or phrase suggests
• Practise identifying the type of question being asked and what kind of answer it requires: a retrieval question needs a specific answer from the text; an inference question requires explanation of what is implied
• Encourage your child to use evidence from the text in their answers, particularly for questions worth more than one mark
• Work through past reading papers together, discussing the questions rather than just marking right and wrong

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

The GPS paper tests specific knowledge of grammar terminology and rules, as well as punctuation usage. Many children find this paper difficult because it requires them to name and identify grammatical features rather than just use them correctly in their own writing.

• Make sure your child knows the key grammatical terms: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, conjunction, preposition, clause, phrase, subject, object, active and passive voice
• Practise punctuation rules: commas in lists and subordinate clauses, apostrophes for possession and contraction, inverted commas, colons and semi-colons
• For spelling, focus on common Year 5 and Year 6 statutory spelling words, which are published by the government and appear frequently in the spelling test
• Use short daily spelling practice rather than long infrequent sessions, as regular exposure is far more effective for spelling retention

6 Managing Your Child’s Anxiety

Exam anxiety in Year 6 children is common and understandable. For many children, SATs are the first time they have sat in a hall and answered questions under timed conditions. The unfamiliarity of the experience can create anxiety even in children who are academically well-prepared.

Keep perspective at home

The language parents use around SATs has a significant effect on how children experience them. If SATs are described as very important, high-stakes, or something the family is worried about, children will carry that anxiety into the test room. A calm, matter-of-fact approach, where preparation is treated as normal and the tests themselves are presented as something your child is well-equipped to handle, is genuinely protective.

This does not mean dismissing your child’s feelings if they express worry. It means not amplifying those feelings with your own anxiety, and being honest that while the tests matter, they are one snapshot and not a judgement of your child’s worth or potential.

Practical steps that help

• Practise under timed conditions a few weeks before SATs so the experience of working against a clock is familiar rather than shocking
• Talk through what will happen on the day: where they will sit, how the papers work, that they can ask an adult if they do not understand an instruction
• Make sure your child knows it is fine to skip a question and come back to it rather than sitting stuck on one answer
• Prioritise sleep in the week before SATs; a tired child will underperform regardless of how much they have revised
• Ensure your child has a good breakfast on test days and arrives at school with enough time to settle before the papers begin
• Plan something enjoyable for after each day of SATs to give your child something positive to look forward to

If anxiety is severe

If your child’s anxiety about SATs is affecting their sleep, appetite, or daily wellbeing, speak to their class teacher or the school’s SENCO. Schools have experience supporting children through this and can put additional measures in place. Children with identified needs may be entitled to access arrangements such as extra time or a separate room.

7 What to Expect on SATs Week

SATs week typically takes place in the second week of May. Papers are sat in the morning, and children generally return to normal lessons in the afternoon. Here is what the week looks like:

Day	Papers
Monday	Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Paper 1 (Spelling) and Paper 2 (GPS)
Tuesday	Reading
Wednesday	Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic)
Thursday	Maths Papers 2 and 3 (Reasoning)
Friday	No national tests (used for any catch-up arrangements)

Results are typically returned to schools in July, shortly before the end of the summer term. Your child’s school will share the results with you at that point, usually alongside their end-of-year report.

8 How to Talk to Your Child’s Teacher

Your child’s Year 6 teacher is your most valuable source of information about where your child is and what they specifically need to focus on. Do not wait for parents’ evening if you have concerns. Most teachers welcome a brief conversation or email from parents who want to support preparation at home.

Useful questions to ask include:

• Which areas of Maths and English would most benefit from additional practice at home?
• Is my child performing at, above, or below the expected standard in each subject currently?
• Are there any specific question types or topics that my child consistently finds difficult?
• What resources does the school recommend for home practice?

This conversation gives you targeted information that makes home practice far more efficient than working through everything without direction.

9 Useful Resources for SATs Preparation

There is a large amount of SATs preparation material available, and it varies considerably in quality. The most useful resources are those that closely replicate the actual test format.

• Past SATs papers: Available free from the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) website and through sites like SATs-Papers.co.uk. Working through actual past papers is more useful than any worksheet or workbook.
• KS2 Maths and English CGP revision guides: Reliable, curriculum-aligned, and written at the right level for Year 6 children to use independently or with a parent.
• BBC Bitesize KS2: Free online resources covering the Maths and English content tested in SATs, with interactive practice activities suitable for home use.
• Times tables practice: Times Tables Rock Stars and similar apps make multiplication table practice engaging for children who respond better to game-based learning than written drills.
• Year 5 and 6 statutory spelling list: Available free from the government website. These words appear in the spelling test and are worth practising systematically in the months before SATs.

SATs Preparation: A Summary for Parents

Area	What Helps Most
Maths Arithmetic	Times tables fluency, short division and long multiplication practice, timed arithmetic papers
Maths Reasoning	Worded problem practice, reading tables and charts, geometry and measures
Reading	Regular reading, inference discussion, understanding question types, using text evidence
GPS	Grammar terminology, punctuation rules, daily spelling practice on statutory word list
Anxiety	Calm language at home, timed practice in advance, good sleep and routine on test days
Overall approach	Short regular sessions from January, targeted by teacher feedback, past papers over worksheets