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SATs 2027: 22 school weeks to go →

What most parents don't know about SATs

Year 6 isn't one test. It's the first step of everything after it.

Here is the chain, step by step. Each statistic links to its source.

  1. Step 1 · The skills

    SATs test the skills under everything else.

    Reading, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Every other subject runs on them. So do most jobs.

    • Reading
    • Maths
    • Checking a payslip
    • Signing a contract
    • Following a recipe
    • Helping with homework

    Nearly 1 in 2

    In 2011, nearly half of adults in England aged 16 to 65 had maths skills no higher than those expected at age 9 to 11.

    BIS, Skills for Life Survey 2011

    Think about that. In 2011, about 8 million adults in England had maths skills below the level expected at age 9 to 11. The survey says that can mean they may not be able to understand price labels or pay household bills.

    This is not an argument for obsessing over test scores. It is an argument for taking basic maths seriously.

    The national curriculum calls maths "a precondition of success across the national curriculum" and English "an essential foundation for success in all subjects".

    DfE, National curriculum framework

  2. Step 2 · Age 11

    Skills compound. So do gaps.

    One SATs result doesn't decide a child's future. The problem is that a gap at 11 is often still there at 16.

    In Year 6, children sit tests in reading, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Each test can be scored from 80 to 120. A score of 100 or more means the expected standard.

  3. Step 3 · Age 16

    Their SATs score is a strong guide to their GCSEs.

    Out of every 20 children, how many got grade 4 or above in both English and maths:

    Below 100 at age 111 in 5
    100 to 109 at age 117 in 10
    110 or more at age 1119 in 20

    DfE, Key stage 4 performance. Pupils who sat SATs in 2019 (GCSEs in 2024), by average reading and maths score. A link, not a cause.

  4. Step 4 · Harder to fix later

    Most who miss English or maths at 16 have not caught up by 19.

    Of young people without a level 2 pass (broadly grade 4) in English language and/or maths at 16, 8 in 10 had still not got one or both by 19. For most, three more years did not close it.

    Back to Year 6

    Research for the Education Endowment Foundation found that 44% of the GCSE gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers already exists by age 11. Year 6 SATs are the last national check before secondary school.

    DfE, Level 2 and 3 attainment by young people aged 19, 2024/25

    Education Endowment Foundation, The disadvantage gap

  5. Step 5 · You

    You cannot do your child's learning for them.

    But you can decide whether they face their difficulties now, while the stakes are small, or later, when they cost more to overcome.

    The Education Endowment Foundation found that effective parental engagement approaches can add an average of four months' progress over a year.

    Education Endowment Foundation, Parental engagement

From Year 6 to adult life.

The same skills, followed past 16.

  1. Step 6 · After 16

    The longer view.

    These are links, not guarantees. DfE says the pay link is an association, not proof of cause. "A big step up" is one standard deviation in the DfE study.

  2. Step 7 · A fair point

    “I didn't get good grades, and I turned out fine.”

    Perhaps you did. But is that the standard you want to set for your child?

    Surviving a difficulty doesn't make the difficulty good for you. And succeeding despite a disadvantage is not evidence the disadvantage didn't matter.

    Grades are one way colleges and employers check skills.

    Fewer and fewer people in work have no qualifications at all.

    • 8 in 1002007
    • 4 in 1002017
    • 2 in 1002027, projected
    Working Futures 2017 to 2027

    56% of UK employers rated GCSE English and maths (A* to C) as critical or significant in 2016.

    DfE, Employer Perspectives Survey 2016

    Adults in England with stronger maths skills were paid more per hour, even when comparing people with the same years of schooling.

    Hanushek and others, Returns to skills around the world (NBER). Full-time workers aged 35 to 54, 2011 to 2012. Links, not guarantees.

  3. Step 8 · The goal

    The goal isn't to make learning effortless. It's to help your child become capable of effort.

    1. The lessons explain the method.

    2. The practice is where they try it themselves.

    3. You see the progress.

  4. Step 9 · Now

    You can decide what happens between now and May.

    You cannot control what questions appear in May. You cannot sit the papers for your child. You cannot guarantee a result.

    22 school weeks left before SATs

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