2023 SATs Papers

Video Walkthroughs

Watch our video walkthroughs of the 2023 KS2 Maths SATs papers.

Paper 1 (Arithmetic)

Paper 2 (Reasoning)

Paper 3 (Reasoning)

What Was in the 2023 KS2 SATs?

2023 KS2 English Reading Paper

The 2023 Key Stage 2 English reading assessment consists of a reading booklet containing three texts and a separate answer booklet with comprehension questions. The reading materials include A Noise in the Night, a narrative about two girls who discover cattle rustlers while camping; Bats Under the Bridge, a magazine interview about the bat colony at Congress Avenue Bridge in Austin, Texas; and A Howl at Dusk, a story following a character named Innis who encounters mysterious wolf sounds on a Scottish island.

The assessment tests students' reading comprehension through questions that cover multiple skill areas. These include retrieval of information directly stated in the texts, inference skills requiring students to draw conclusions from evidence, vocabulary understanding, and sequencing abilities. Students read the three texts in the reading booklet and respond to corresponding questions in the answer booklet, demonstrating their ability to understand and interpret different types of written material including narrative fiction and non-fiction interviews.

2023 KS2 Maths Papers

The 2023 Key Stage 2 Mathematics assessment consists of three papers testing different mathematical skills. Paper 1 focuses on arithmetic calculations including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division of whole numbers, decimals and fractions, plus percentage calculations and order of operations. Papers 2 and 3 are reasoning papers that cover geometry, coordinates, data interpretation, money calculations, number sequences, algebraic expressions, and measurement conversions.

Across all papers, students encounter problem-solving questions set in real-world contexts such as shopping scenarios, travel calculations, and weather data interpretation. The assessment covers core mathematical areas including place value, fractions and decimals, geometric concepts like reflection and symmetry, data handling through tables and graphs, time calculations, and pattern recognition. Questions range from single calculations to multi-step problems requiring mathematical reasoning and method explanations.

2023 KS2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Papers

The 2023 KS2 English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling assessment consists of two papers that test different aspects of language skills. Paper 1: Questions contains 50 questions covering sentence types including commands, questions, and exclamations, alongside punctuation rules for commas, apostrophes, inverted commas, colons, dashes, and brackets. The paper also assesses knowledge of parts of speech such as verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners, verb tenses, active and passive voice, and the distinction between formal and informal language.

Paper 2: Spelling features 20 dictation-style questions where students complete sentences by writing missing words in blank spaces. This paper tests spelling accuracy across various vocabulary types, including homophones, common words with irregular spellings, and subject-specific terminology. Each question provides a sentence context to help students identify the correct spelling of the target word. Together, the papers cover word families, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, clauses and phrases, and Standard English usage.

About the 2023 KS2 SATs

Children in Year 6 (those aged 10-11 at the time) took their KS2 SATs tests in May 2023. The exams started on Tuesday 9th May 2023 and took place over four days.

The 2023 KS2 SATs were authored, produced and managed by the STA (Standards and Testing Agency) under the authorisation of the DfE (Department for Education).

KS2 SATs were taken in Maths, Reading and GaPS under formal exam conditions. These papers were marked externally whilst separate teacher assessments in Writing and Science were marked by their teachers.

Pupils with additional educational needs were offered support and/or extra exam time where available. Modified materials using braille and large print were available to eligible pupils and their teachers.

2023 was the sixth year of 'new-style' KS2 SATs tests under the new national curriculum.

To help prepare children for the 2023 KS2 SATs, children were able to download test papers from previous years free of charge. Whilst not working to the same curriculum, KS2 SATs Papers from 2015 (and before) were still useful to aid preparation.

Once marked, children's scores were converted to scaled scores:

• If a child's scaled score was below 100, they had not reached the expected standard.

• If a child's scaled score was between 100 and 109, they had reached the expected standard.

• If a child's score was 110 or over, they had exceeded the expected standard and were judged as working at greater depth.

2023 KS2 SATs Scaled Scores Expected Standard and Greater Depth

Here you will find the Key Stage 2 raw/scaled conversion tables. You may find it easier and faster to use our free scaled score converter.

2023 English Reading KS2 SATs

The raw score required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 24. Thus, the "pass mark" for pupils taking the 2023 KS2 English Reading SATs was 24/50 or 48%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 38/50 or 76%.

See below for the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

2023 Maths KS2 SATs

The raw score required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 56. Thus, the "pass mark" for children taking the 2023 KS2 Maths SATs was 56/110 or 50.9%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 94/110 or 85.5%.

See below for the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

2023 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling KS2 SATs

The mark required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 36. Thus, the "pass mark" for children taking the 2023 KS2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling SATs was 36/70 or 51.4%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 55/70 or 78.6%.

See below for the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

Each school's KS2 SATs results were made available to their headteachers in July 2023 via the NCA tools website. Individual KS2 SATs results were fed back to parents some time after this date, normally within a child's end of year report.

Every school's KS2 SATs performance were made publicly available in December 2023 as part of the 2023 primary school league tables.

2023 KS2 SATs Exam Timetable

Please note that the 2023 Key Stage 2 SATs were originally due to start on Monday 8th May 2023 but were shuffled back by one day to Tuesday 9th May due to the extra bank holiday for the King's coronation.

Unfortunately this does mean that pupils took their national assessment tests immediately after a bank holiday, possibly impacting attainment.

What Was in the 2023 KS1 SATs?

2023 KS1 English Reading Papers

The 2023 Key Stage 1 English reading assessment contains four texts across two booklets. Reading Booklet 1 features a non-fiction text explaining how wool is obtained from sheep and processed into clothing, alongside a fiction story about a girl who finds her lost cat after moving house. Reading Booklet 2 includes a non-fiction text presenting children describing their unusual homes around the world, including a houseboat, ger, lighthouse, and underground house, plus a narrative about a boy learning about punctuality.

The assessment tests literal comprehension, vocabulary understanding, and inference skills through questions about both fiction and non-fiction texts. Students encounter characters including Anna and her cat Fluffy, Rory who delays tasks, and children Sara, Bora, Tom, and Ella describing their different types of homes. The reading materials cover topics from sheep farming and wool production to international housing styles and time management, providing a range of contexts for comprehension assessment.

2023 KS1 Maths Papers

The 2023 Key Stage 1 Mathematics assessment consists of two papers that test different mathematical skills and understanding. Paper 1: Arithmetic contains 25 questions focused on basic computational skills including addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The paper covers single and multi-digit calculations, finding fractions of numbers such as halves and quarters, and solving missing number problems. This component assesses children's ability to perform fundamental mathematical operations accurately.

Paper 2: Reasoning tests mathematical understanding through problem-solving and application questions. The paper covers number operations, place value, shape recognition, and data handling skills. Questions include number comparisons using mathematical symbols, completing number patterns, matching numerals to words, identifying three-dimensional shapes, and interpreting block diagrams and tally charts. Children also solve word problems involving money calculations, work with fractions, and demonstrate understanding of turns and position concepts.

2023 KS1 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Papers

The 2023 Key Stage 1 English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling assessment consists of two papers that evaluate different aspects of language skills. Paper 1 focuses on spelling accuracy and contains 20 items where students complete sentences by writing correctly spelled words in blank spaces. Paper 2 tests grammar and punctuation knowledge through various question types that cover multiple areas of English language structure and usage.

Paper 2 assesses students' understanding of word classes including nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, alongside sentence types such as statements, questions, commands and exclamations. The paper also covers punctuation features including capital letters, full stops, apostrophes, commas, question marks and exclamation marks. Additional topics include verb tenses, conjunctions, noun phrases and plural endings, with students required to identify, select and apply these grammatical concepts across sentence-level tasks.

About the 2023 KS1 SATs

Children in Year 2 (those aged 6-7 at the time) took their KS1 SATs tests throughout May 2023.

The 2023 KS1 SATs were authored, produced and managed by the STA (Standards and Testing Agency) under the authorisation of the DfE (Department for Education).

KS1 SATs were taken in Maths, Reading and GaPS (optionally) under informal exam conditions. These papers were marked by their teachers alongside the Writing and Science teacher assessments.

As with the KS2 SATs, pupils with additional educational needs were offered support and/or extra exam time where available. Modified materials using braille and large print were available to eligible pupils and their teachers.

2023 was the sixth and final year of 'new-style' compulsory KS1 SATs tests under the new national curriculum.

To help prepare children for the 2023 KS1 SATs, children were able to download test papers from previous years free of charge.

Once marked, children's scores were converted to scaled scores:

• If a child's scaled score was below 100, they had not reached the expected standard.

• If a child's scaled score was between 100 and 109, they had reached the expected standard.

• If a child's score was 110 or over, they had exceeded the expected standard and were judged as working at greater depth.

2023 KS1 SATs Scaled Scores Expected Standard and Greater Depth

Here you will find the Key Stage 1 raw/scaled conversion tables. You may find it easier and faster to use our free scaled score converter.

2023 English Reading KS1 SATs

The raw score required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 25. Thus, the "pass mark" for pupils taking the 2023 KS1 English Reading SATs was 25/40, or 62.5%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 36/40, or 90%.

See below for the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

2023 Maths KS1 SATs

The raw score required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 35. Thus, the "pass mark" for children taking the 2023 KS1 Maths SATs was 35/60, or 58.3%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 53/60, or 88.3%.

See below for the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

2023 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling KS1 SATs

The mark required to achieve the "expected standard" (a scaled score of 100) was 23. Thus, the "pass mark" for children taking the 2023 KS1 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling SATs was 23/40, or 57.5%. In order to achieve "greater depth" (scaled score of 110) a child would have to score at least 34/40, or 85%.

See below for pupils taking the full raw marks to scaled scores conversion table:

Each school's KS1 SATs results will be made available to their headteachers in July 2023 via the NCA tools website. Individual KS1 SATs results were fed back to parents some time after this date, normally within a child's end of year report.

Every school's KS1 SATs performance will be made publicly available in December 2023 as part of the 2023 primary school league tables.

2023 KS1 SATs Exam Timetable

The 2023 KS1 SATs took place at some point throughout May 2023.

The precise days of the tests varied from school to school as they are given a greater degree of flexibility than KS2 SATs. Thus they would have been completed at some point between 1 May 2023 and 31 May 2023.