SATs week 2022 Guide

Welcome to our 2022 SAT’s feature (When is SATs week 2022?):

School Entrance Tests‘ Key Stage Practice Papers

Our Key Stage 1 past papers

Key Stage 2 practice papers for 2022 SATs and

SATs 2022 Key Stage 3 practice papers.

2022 SATs Key Stages Guide

What are the key stages that make up the national curriculum in England and Wales? Our Teaching Wiki goes through the different key stages, year groups and ages of children in each key stage.

The national curriculum in England and Wales is made up of different year groups that make up five key stages. Within these key stages, students will take standardised exams based on the school year and level they are at.

The exams are specifically designed for each key stage to measure how a student is performing and learning in particular areas of study that have been set out in the national curriculum. Teachers will be aware of the objectives for the national curriculum and will teach topics in their classes that will help children to pass each key stage.

What are the key stages and their age groups?

Not sure what Key Stage is Year 4? What year is Key Stage 2? These are the types of question that this page will address. The key stages that make up the national curriculum in England and Wales are as follows. Included are the different age groups that children are usually in these key stages for, depending on their birthday within the academic year:

• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)– ages 3-5 (Nursery and Reception)
• Key Stage 1– ages 5-7 (Years 1-2)
• KS 2– ages 7-11 (Years 3-6)
• Key Stage 3– ages 11-14 (Years 7-9)
• KS 4– ages 14-16 (Years 10-11)

When is SATs week 2022?

• KS1 and KS2 SATs practice papers tests take place in May 2022.
• See our KS2 SAT practice papers.
• Here you can find our KS1 SAT practice papers.

Key dates for 2022 SATs exams

Why not revise here for your SATs 2022?

What’s different about 2022 KS1 SATs?

• This happens for children in year 2 happen in a very low-key way throughout the month during normal lesson time. There is no fixed testing period. Some children won’t even be aware that they’ve taken them. This is the last year that they will be compulsory in all schools. In 2023 these exams will become optional.
• SATs week for children in year 6 is from Monday 9th May 2022 until Thursday 12th May.
• Children throughout England will sit their exams, set by the Department of Education, at the same time. For many, this is the first time that they will have sat a formal exam. This can feel daunting and as a parent, may bring back memories of exam nerves when we were at school.
• Your school will have given your child ample SATs preparation so that they are familiar with the process.
• Plus access to SATs resources such as past KS2 SATS papers and the style of questions. Nothing should be a surprise.

Typically, Key Stage 1 SATs take place in May of year 2. Unlike the KS2 SATs, these tests are not strictly timed as the ability to work at speed is not assessed. Teachers will have the option to stop the test at any point that they feel is appropriate for a particular child.

Mock 2022 SATs week

• When your child comes to sit their actual 2022 SATs papers they will have practised this process multiple times.
• Most schools will run more than one mock SATs week. Often at the end of Year 5 and early on in the Spring term.
• Your child will know which classroom they will be sitting in and the time they will have to complete each test.

SATs KS2 Maths and English

• KS2 Maths and English are normally included in the end of year school report.
• The results for KS1 are not published but you can ask the school at the end of the summer term if you’d like to find out about them.
• KS1 SATS are teacher assessed while KS2 exams are marked externally.
• The National Curriculum tests (SATs) are designed to assess if your child is working below, at or above the national average level for children of their age.
• The SATs results provide you and the school with useful information about how your child is doing.

SATs KS1 for Year 2

There’s 6 SATs KS1 papers:

• 2 English reading papers;
• Two English grammar, punctuation and spelling papers; and
• 2 maths papers

In contrast to the KS2 SATs (year 6), these tests aren’t strictly timed, and teachers can stop the test at any point that feels appropriate for a particular child.

• As a result, children are usually relaxed and many don’t realise they’re taking a test!
• Although the tests are set externally, they are marked by teachers within the school and the children’s raw scores (the actual marks they get) are translated into a scaled score.
• A scaled score of 100 or more means a child is working at the expected standard. While a score below 100 indicates that a child hasn’t reached the government expected standard. The maximum possible score is 115, and the minimum is 85.
• For KS1 SATs, you may not receive your child’s actual SATs scores, unless you ask for them.
• However, you will be told whether they are working at the expected standard as part of the end of year report.

What is EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage)

This stage sets standards for learning and gets children used to school before ‘proper’ lessons start in year 1. Children are mostly taught through games and play. The EYFS stage includes the reception year at primary school, and children in this key stage are ages up to 5 years old.

2022 SATs Summary

Here is a useful table that shows the different key stages, the different year groups and the ages children are in each of them:

How are each of the 2022 SATs Key Stages structured?

Now you know what Key Stages are, you might be wondering about how each Key Stage is structured and how this can help to shape lesson and revision plans.

The short answer is National Curriculum Aims.

Each Key Stage on the National Curriculum is broken up into different National Curriculum Aims, also known as National Curriculum expectations.

Each National Curriculum aim details a particular skill, ability or level of knowledge that children should aim to achieve for a particular subject at each Key Stage. Within each key stage and subject there are many National Curriculum Aims to work towards.

For example, according to that National Curriculum Aims for Key Stage 2 English, students should be taughtto:

• “Increase their familiarity with a wide range of books, including fairy stories, myths and legends, and retelling some of these orally”.
• “Draw inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justify inferences with evidence”
• “Choose nouns or pronouns appropriately for clarity and cohesion and to avoid repetition”
• And much more.