At the end of Year 6, children sit tests in: Spelling, punctuation and grammar, reading and maths. These tests are both set and marked externally. Your child’s marks will be used in conjunction with teacher assessment in writing and science to give a broader picture of their attainment against other children nationally.
Please watch the video below for a full explanation of the tests and what the expectations of the children will be.
How Can You Help Your Child Prepare?
We support children with 'readiness' for their next stages in learning and life, through teaching them skills, promoting growth mindsets and considering mental health.
Here are some tips on how you can support your child at home:
What do the tests involve?
Most children will sit the tests in the classrooms normally used each day for their learning or within the school hall where they will have had plenty of previous practise. The children will be split into smaller groups in line with normal classroom practice. This is done so that the children are comfortable and familiar with their surroundings and so that they can be spaced out appropriately.
Each room will have enough staff to ensure the correct administration of the test and the staff involved will have been given training on test format and style, their role and what they may or may not read to a pupil in a particular test including any subject specific issues that might occur. Some children will have an adult with them to either read the paper, scribe or prompt. If this is the case, you will be informed and your child will have worked with this adult on a number of occasions prior to testing week and will be aware of why they will benefit from additional support.
Reading Paper:
The reading test is a single paper with questions based on three passages of text. Your child will have one hour, including reading time, to complete the test.
There will be a selection of question types, including:
Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling Papers:
The grammar, punctuation and spelling test consists of two parts: a grammar and punctuation paper requiring short answers, lasting 45 minutes, and an aural spelling test of 20 words, lasting around 15 minutes.
The grammar and punctuation test will include two sub-types of questions:
Mathematics Papers:
Children sit three papers in maths:
Paper 1 will consist of fixed response questions, where children have to give the correct answer to calculations, including long multiplication and division.
Papers 2 and 3 will involve a number of question types, including:
How will I find out what my child’s results are?
You will be given your child’s raw score (the actual number of marks they get), alongside their scaled score and whether they have reached the expected standard set by the Department for Education. The expected standard for each test is a scaled score of 100 or more. If a child is awarded a scaled score of 99 or less they won’t have achieved the expected standard in the test.
The DFE will report your child’s result as one of two codes: