What are age-related expectations?

The Department for Education (DfE) sets out what a child should be able to do by the end of KS1 and KS2, as measured by SATs and teacher assessment.

There’s a comprehensive list of skills and knowledge for each core curriculum area that a child should have mastered in order to meet age-related expectations. SATs test these key areas.

In subjects where teacher assessment applies, including writing and science, there’s a set of objectives that children have to fulfil to be classed as meeting age-related expectations.

The ideal is that a child should have ticked off all of the learning objectives, but there is some discretion: if the child falls short of the expected standard in just a couple of areas, but is generally ‘secure’ in the rest, they may be deemed to be meeting age-related expectations.

Find out about what your child needs to know or do to meet age-related expectations at the end of Year 2 and Year 6.

Pupils in Reception, Year 1, and Years 3 to 5 don’t take SATs, so teachers make their own assessments of whether a child is meeting age-related expectations based on the National Curriculum for that year and how much of it they have learned or can do.

These assessments could be based on classwork and homework, 'optional SATs' which could end-of-year tests set by schools themselves or externally set tests such as those produced by NFER, or a combination of these.

In SATs years, you’ll be told whether or not your child has met age-related expectations, or is working towards or above them, in each of the areas above.

In Year 2, you won’t be given your child’s exact SATs scores (unless you ask), but in Year 6, you will likely be told their marks.

In non-SATs years, schools have flexibility over how they communicate their pupils’ attainment to parents. Some use their own system that equates to the expected standards, such as alphabetical (A, B, C) or numerical (1, 2, 3) grades.

Most, however, assess and inform parents of children’s progress according to the age-related expectation statements above, even if the wording differs slightly.

You’ll be informed of your child’s outcomes in each of the core curriculum areas (reading, writing, maths and science) in their end-of-year report.

If you’re in doubt about your child’s outcomes, speak to their teacher in the first instance. They will be able to explain how they arrived at their judgement and discuss any concerns you might have.