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Changes to KS1 SATs in 2025

KS1 SATs in 2025
Year 2 children in England may take KS1 SATs in May, although they are now optional. Here's what parents need to know about the English and maths assessments in Y2.

SATs in Year 2

KS1 SATs are now optional. Some schools may still choose to administer them. Here's what you need to know... 

At the end of Year 2, children may take SATs in:

  • Reading
  • English grammar, punctuation and spelling, or GPS (optional paper, schools can decide whether to use it)
  • Maths

Key Stage 1 reading

The reading test for Year 2 pupils is made up of two separate papers:
 

  • Paper 1 consists of a selection of texts totalling 400 to 700 words, with questions interspersed
  • Paper 2 comprises a reading booklet of a selection of passages totalling 800 to 1100 words. Children will write their answers in a separate booklet

Each paper is worth 50 per cent of the marks, and should take around 30 minutes, but children are not strictly timed, as the tests are not intended to assess children’s ability to work at speed. The texts in the reading papers cover a range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, and get progressively more difficult towards the end of the test.

Teachers have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child.

Key stage 1 grammar, spelling and punctuation

Children taking Key Stage 1 SATs may also sit two separate papers in grammar, spelling and punctuation:    

  • Paper 1: a 20-word spelling test taking approximately 15 minutes and worth 20 marks.
  • Paper 2: a grammar, punctuation and vocabulary test, in two sections of around 10 minutes each (with a break between, if necessary), worth 20 marks. This will involve a mixture of selecting the right answers e.g. through multiple choice, and writing short answers.

There are a variety of question types:
 

  • Multiple choice
  • Ranking / ordering, e.g. ‘Number the events below to show in which order they happened in the story’
  • Matching, e.g. ‘Match the character to the job that they do in the story’
  • Labelling, e.g. ‘Label the text to show the title’
  • Find and copy, e.g. ‘Find and copy one word that shows what the weather was like in the story’
  • Short answer, e.g. ‘What does the bear eat?’
  • Open-ended answer, e.g. ‘Why did Lucy write the letter to her grandmother? Give two reasons’

Key Stage 1 maths

The Key Stage 1 maths test is made up of two papers:
 

  • Paper 1: arithmetic, worth 25 marks and taking around 15 minutes.
  • Paper 2: mathematical fluency, problem-solving and reasoning, worth 35 marks and taking 35 minutes, with a break if necessary. There are a variety of question types: multiple choice, matching, true / false, constrained (e.g. completing a chart or table; drawing a shape) and less constrained (e.g. where children have to show or explain their method).

Children are not allowed to use any tools such as calculators or number lines.

When will the KS1 SATs take place?

The last compulsory KS1 SATs were administered in May 2023. They will now be optional. 

Unlike KS2 SATs, KS1 SATs don't have to be administered according to a nationally-set timetable in a specific week. Schools are free to manage the timetable and will aim to administer the tests in the classroom in a low-stress, low-key way; usually in the month of May. Some children won't even be aware they've taken them! 

How will the tests be marked?

Although the tests are set externally, they are marked by teachers within the school.

Children are given a scaled score. Their raw score – the actual number of marks they get – is translated into a scaled score, where a score of 100 means the child is working at the expected standard.

A score below 100 indicates that the child needs more support, whereas a score of above 100 suggests the child is working at a higher level than expected for their age. The maximum score possible is 115, and the minimum is 85.

Teacher assessments are also used to build up a picture of your child’s learning and achievements. In addition, your child will receive an overall result saying whether they have achieved the required standard in the tests (your child's actual results won't be communicated to you unless you ask for them). 

Other subjects

Other national curriculum subjects, including English writing, speaking and listening, science and computing, will be assessed by your child's teacher based on their work throughout the year.

Are there any practice papers for KS1 SATs?

The official 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 KS1 SATs papers are available for free download from TheSchoolRun: 
 

You can also look through free past papers from previous years – although the format and content of the new SATs is different, they will still help to familiarise your child with exam procedure.

TheSchoolRun has commissioned five complete KS1 SATs practice papers for maths and five for English. Available exclusively to subscribers, they are written in the style of the new-curriculum papers and feature similar question types.



'KS1 SATs to be scrapped'

On 30 March 2017 the Department for Education launched a consultation to propose making Key Stage 1 assessments non-statutory.

It has since been announced that KS1 SATs will be optional from September 2023. 

A new baseline assessment for Reception pupils was introduced in September 2021 and KS2 SATs (in Year 6) will not be affected.

Download a free parents' guide to KS1 SATs in 2025

Is your child taking Year 2 SATs this year? Print out TheSchoolRun's guide to KS1 SATs for parents.

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