SATs Papers

What are SATs?

SATs (or Standard Assessment Tests) are national tests given to children at school. They are also known as 'SATs papers', 'SATs exams' or 'SATs tests'.

In primary school, children take their Key Stage 1 (KS1) SATs at the end of Year 2 and their Key Stage 2 (KS2) SATs at the end of Year 6. SATs papers are taken in English Reading, Maths and Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GaPS or SPaG). Separate SATs papers are also taken in Writing and Science though these are less formal teacher assessments.

In secondary school, children take their Key Stage 3 (KS3) SATs at the end of Year 9. Children can expect tests in English Reading, Writing Maths, Science and Shakespeare. Rather than externally moderated exams, these tests are teacher assessments.

"SATs week" is when all KS2 SATs tests take place across the UK. For KS1 SATs, schools are granted the flexibility of administering them at a time that's convenient to them throughout the whole of May 2021. For the 2021 KS2 SATs, the 'SATs week' will be the week commencing Monday 10th May 2021.

All KS2 SATs papers are securely transported and marked externally.

The 2020 KS1 and KS2 SATs were due to take place in May. However, due to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the UK in March 2020, all KS1 and KS2 SATs tests were cancelled. Indeed, all externally moderated exams (including GCSEs, A-Levels, Phonics Tests etc) were also cancelled. So far, the 2020 SATs Papers have not been published by the STA.

The 2019 KS1 SATs and 2019 Key Stage 2 SATs tests and marking scheme were made available to the public on 14th June 2019. The SATs results were issued to schools in July 2019 and were published for all to see in October 2019. See our dedicated page for more information on the 2019 SATs

In addition to KS1, KS2 and KS3 SATs, plenty of schools set Optional SATs for children in other years. This is largely to help children prepare for future exams as well as to help their teachers keep an eye on their academic performance.

Can I download past SATs papers?

Yes. SATs past papers are the fastest way to help prepare children for their real tests. We recommend downloading and working through past SATs papers.

At SATs-Papers.co.uk you can download all our SATs past papers for free. We have carefully organised every SATs paper to make it easy for you to find and download.

Every SATs paper is correctly named so you can easily download and print them at home.

Past SATs papers are best given to children in the months before their real SATs. This way they can practise answering SATs-style questions in a timed environment.

Once children have completed a SATs paper, check through their answers. This will help you and your child identify weaknesses.

Have SATs papers changed?

Yes, SATs papers have changed a number of times over the past few years. It is important that you understand these changes so your children practise the right topics.

In 2016, new SATs papers were created by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA). This followed the Department for Education's (DfE) introduction of a new national curriculum in 2014. The reporting of marks was also changed and a new scaled score system was introduced. Instead of raw marks and levels, children are told whether they have met the expected standard.

There are now four sets of SATs past papers (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) that can be used to prepare for the 2021 SATs and 2022 SATs. You should download all of these to help your child prepare for their 2021 SATs.

SATs papers before 2016 were written for the earlier national curriculum. Some topics were removed and others were added. If used carefully, these earlier SATs papers are very useful for practice.

Online SATs papers?

Children should avoid preparing for their SATs online or using online SATs papers.

Several websites allow your child to take past SATs papers online. However, they cannot mark English questions, offer feedback or credit any 'method-marks'. Put simply, practising online for SATs is a bad idea.

SATs are written tests taken under formal exam conditions with no multiple-choice questions. It is essential that children practise these conditions at home using a pen, pencil and paper.

SATs or S.A.Ts?

Don't confuse SATs papers (a British national assessment) with "S.A.Ts". Young adults take S.A.T papers in the USA to measure their critical thinking. S.A.Ts are a completely different test to SATs.

Are these SATs papers really free?

Yes! All our SATs papers are can be downloaded for free.

We also provide free exam papers for those taking the 11+ and national curriculum tests for Year 1 children taking the Phonics Screening Test.

For over 8 years parents have been able to download past SATs papers, phonics tests and 11+ practice papers for free.