Year 6 SATS question

[Eddas]

When the children sit the SATS do they sit a certain level paper eg level 4? If so this presumably means that they can only achieve a level 4?

I'm asking as DD is on the cusp of two levels and she has asked her teacher for a practice paper (she wanted it not me!) and the paper says it level xx, the lower level, from googling I thought the paper covered level 3-5 and then there is another level 6 paper for the exceptionally bright children?

Also can someone tell me the split of topics and individual marks they'll get? Do they get one mark for English which incorporates the SPAG mark, or is the SPAG mark separate?

If anyone can point me to a website that explains it all i'd be grateful!

No the paper covers level 3-5 depending on score achieved. There is a separate level 6 test.

Content is s mystery until the day of the test as is the mark scheme.

thanks mrsz, that's what I was hoping.

Sorry I didn't mean the topics in the paper, it was the tests ie, SPAG, maths, English, science etc I meant, sorry I wasn't very clear.

DD sat a SPAG test this week and did well in it, I wanted to know if she'll get a SPAG test result separately from any other English test they might do.

2 written level 3-5 maths papers plus a mental maths paper will add up to give a maths level.
1 level 3-5 punctuation and grammar paper plus 1 spelling test will add up to give a SPAG level.
1 level 3-5 reading paper will give a reading level.
Writing will have been assessed by the teacher throughout the year to give a level.
Any level 6 papers are in addition to this and the teacher will already have decided which children are entering but may not have communicated this yet .
All change for 2016 though!

thank you potcallingkettle

Is the reading test comprehension?

Sorry for all the questions!

I'm just trying to understand it all, then i'll re-learn it all for DS once it's changed

Reading is all comprehension. 1 hour, 3 texts and questions worth 1,2 or 3 marks. Texts typically a range. Read one text, answer all the questions on that then read the next and so on. Talk about time management, they need to be thinking roughly 20 mins to read each text and answer questions.

thanks again potcallingkettle that really helps

Sorry to hijack, but DD says that there will be some sort of dictation test - they've been practising this at school. there was no mention of this at the meeting we had or in the pile or papers that the school sent home to be done over Easter. is there a dictation element? (DD is doing L6 papers too for English so might it be that?)

Sounds like then SPAG (spelling & grammar) test iirc, but I'm no expert.

DS just came home with a load of work for the holidays, mainly Level 6 stuff in maths but also English. Also some stuff for revision with a recommendation of spending 15 minutes a day revising this years work.

None of it has to be handed in.

Just handed it in to the bin. Better things to do in the holidays than this shite.

"Just handed it in to the bin."

The dictation is a spelling test. A sentence is read out and they have to spell a given word in that sentence
Eg- for dinner I had chicken and broccoli... Spell the word broccoli.

Do schools let you know the levels and if so when?

Results come back into schools on 7 th July, some schools will tell the children on that day, some will include the results in the end of year reports

The levels will all be in the report given at the end of term & may be given sooner. If you put a child in for level 6 and they don't reach level 5 on the 3-5 paper they can't get a 6 even if they score 100% on that.
The amount of marks needed to reach a certain level varies from year to year. You can download the sats past papers and the mark scheme if you really want to