KS2 SATs, explained

When they happen

Every school in England sits the same tests on the same days, in the same order.

Date	What happens
Monday 10 May 2027	Grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions, and Paper 2: spelling.
Tuesday 11 May 2027	English reading One reading booklet and one answer booklet.
Wednesday 12 May 2027	Maths Paper 1: arithmetic, and Paper 2: reasoning.
Thursday 13 May 2027	Maths Paper 3: reasoning.
Tuesday 6 July 2027	Results reach schools Parents should hear before the end of the summer term.

What is in each subject

English grammar, punctuation and spelling	Paper 1: questions. Paper 2: spelling. 70 marks
English reading	One reading booklet and one answer booklet. 50 marks
Mathematics	Paper 1: arithmetic. Papers 2 and 3: reasoning. 110 marks

How the scores work

Your child's raw mark (the number of marks they actually got) is turned into a scaled score between 80 and 120. A score of 100 or more means your child has met the expected standard for that subject. 99 or less means they have not met it yet. A score of 110 or more is known as the higher standard.

The marks needed for 100 change every year. The questions are new each year, so some papers turn out a little harder than others: an easier paper needs more marks to reach 100, and a harder one needs fewer. Sometimes two raw marks give the same scaled score.

Marks needed for 100, year by year

The lowest raw mark that converted to a scaled score of 100, read from each year's conversion table. No tests were sat in 2020 or 2021.

How children did in past years

The share of Year 6 pupils in England who reached the expected standard (a scaled score of 100 or more) in each test, and in reading, writing and maths together.

From the Department for Education's national statistics. "All three" includes writing, which is marked by teachers rather than tested. * 2026 figures are provisional. The Department says the 2016 and 2017 "all three" figures can't be compared directly with later years, because the way writing was assessed changed in 2018.

When you get the results

Schools can see the 2027 results online from Tuesday 6 July 2027. Parents should get them from the school before the end of the summer term.

The past papers

We host 45 KS2 papers here, each with its mark scheme, free and with no sign-up. English reading opens on GOV.UK instead, because its booklets include stories and articles that are still in copyright, which only schools may copy.

Every year from 2016

That is every year the tests were sat since 2016. There are no 2020 or 2021 papers because the tests were cancelled. GOV.UK only keeps the last three years; we collected the older papers from the UK Government Web Archive, and checked each year's copyright report before putting any of them online.

Before Year 6: the multiplication tables check

The other national test in primary school that parents ask about is the multiplication tables check, done on screen in June of Year 4. It is much smaller than the SATs: 25 questions in under five minutes, with no pass mark. But quick, confident times tables are exactly what the Year 6 arithmetic paper builds on.

What actually helps at home

• Sit one paper properly, timed, at the kitchen table. One real attempt tells you more than a term of worksheets.
• Mark it with the mark scheme, which is next to every paper here. The mark schemes are easy to follow and show exactly what earns a mark.
• Look at what went wrong, not just the score. A raw mark is not a grade until you check it against that year's boundaries.
• For the spelling paper, work through the Year 5 and 6 spelling list: the 100 words Year 6 are expected to know, each with its tricky part shown, a spelling test that reads the words out, and sheets to print.
• Keep it in proportion. The tests measure the school's teaching as much as your child, and they do not decide secondary school places.

Sources

5 official pages, checked 22 September 2026

The year-by-year marks and results were added on 3 October 2026, from each year's conversion table and the Department for Education's statistics. The arrangements are published again every year, so check GOV.UK before you rely on them.

GOV.UK

• 2027 key stage 2 national curriculum tests: information for parents
• Scaled scores at key stage 2
• National curriculum assessments: past test materials

Department for Education

• Key stage 2 attainment: national headlines

Standards and Testing Agency

• copyright ownership: key stage 2 national curriculum tests

Contains material developed by the Standards and Testing Agency for national curriculum assessments and licensed under Open Government Licence v3.0.