Assessment
Throughout your child's time at school, there are assessments at particular stages to help measure progress and to inform target-setting.
National Assessment Points
At key points through primary school, children are assessed against national expectations.
These are:
EYFS Baseline Assessment (done within 6 weeks of entering school):
The reception baseline is an age-appropriate assessment of mathematics and literacy, communication and language, that is delivered in English. It is clearly linked to the learning and development requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS).
Y1 Phonic Screening:
The phonics screening check is taken individually by all children in Year 1 in England, and is usually taken in June. It is designed to give teachers and parents information on how your child is progressing in phonics.
Y2 SATs:
KS1 SATs will become optional from September 2023.
At the end of Year 2, children may take SATs in:
Y4 Multiplication Check:
The Multiplication Tables Check is to be taken towards the end of Year 4 to make sure children are meeting the benchmark of memorising their times tables up to 12 x 12 before moving up to Upper Key Stage 2 (Year 5 and Year 6).
KS2 SATs (Y6):
If you have a child in year 6, at the end of key stage 2, they will take national curriculum tests in English grammar, punctuation and spelling, English reading and mathematics. Teachers will make sure all pupils in their class are prepared for the tests.
You should follow their general advice about supporting your child’s education throughout the year and ahead of the tests.
The KS2 assessments only include questions on things that children should already have been taught as part of the national curriculum. As such, children should not be made to feel undue pressure over them. Headteachers make the final decision about whether a pupil participates in the KS2 tests or not. Some pupils (for example, some pupils with special education needs or disabilities) may be assessed under different arrangements. If you have concerns about your child participating in the KS2 tests, you should speak to your school in the first instance.
What are scaled score in SATS?
Children earn a scaled score from 80-120 in each assessment. This represents where they are working in relation to the national curriculum expectations. A scaled score between 80 and 100 means that a child is working towards the national expectation.
How is school progress measured?
Prior attainment is based on teacher assessment judgements at key stage 1 (KS1). Schools have progress measures published for 3 subjects: reading, writing and maths.