SATS Sample Papers

[Valski]

Hi there all,

On Friday my daughters teacher told me that given daughter is strong in literacy she would be taking a SATs test paper next half term. Now I am fretting because I don't have any clue whereo can get sample papers from. Please can others let me know. I assume books on Amazon.

If there are any premium websites which you need to sign up to in order to access, then please point me in the right direction. I am happy to pay for materials to get my daughter practicing, but I have no clue where is the best place to start looking. Do schools give the kids test papers as practice? Can I download from the exam boards and who is responsible for setting the SAT exams and marking please?

Any help gratefully received!

Thanks to all in advance, Val

val please! the SATS were supposed to be a snapshot of how the school was doing.
They are nothing to do with individual children, and make no difference to their prospects.

I work in a school and we do loads of practice papers with the children in school. Parents are recommended to get the CGP revision guides.

What year group is your child in? Unless they are currently Year 2 or Year 6 they will be working on a different curriculum than SATs papers assess. Year 6 has already had SATs week and Year 2s do sit SATs papers as just a minor part of the teacher assessment level awarded; the vast majority of schools will have already administered the tests already.

Regardless of what year group the child there is nothing you need to do to support or prepare them - so sample papers are not needed. However, if you want to see the sort of thing your daughter will be doing google "Year 2 SATs papers" - or year 6 and you will find sites with old papers on them.

fairgame if I was told to buy a revision guide, I would tell that lazy teacher to stick it where the sun don't shine.

Wtf? Teachers work hard preparing children for their sats. Unless you work in a school you have no idea about how much preparation it takes. We provided all of our year 6 children with revision guides free of charge to supplement the work they were doing in school. I work in an 'outstanding' rated school and clearly our approach works.

it just seems a pity that so many people, inc headteachers have reduced education down to Ofsted ratings and SATS scores.
testing, testing and not much else.

I agree with you sunny. The kids get so stressed about it and the school are obsessed with sats but the teachers certainly aren't lazy. I'm not a fan of sats and don't get caught up in all the drama of it (our head unnecessarily cancelled all meetings during sats week) DS won't be doing any as he is in a special school.

OK sorry I apologise for that comment! I know how hard teachers work.
I still do not think that teachers should be giving SATs tests for homework, or telling parents what books to buy though.
The SATS were supposed to show how the school was doing, and offer a level playing field for children. Which it patently isn't!

Thanks all for thoughts and ideas. I will look into the CGP revision guides. I understand that the schools are the ones who care about these results for the league tables, but I also care - given that this could have an impact on future streaming and levelled targets.

I was confused as my daughter in Year 1 so it was a bit of a shock that she should be sitting the paper at all. Frankly I find the exam system now un fathomable. My daughter is not at a particularly good school so I can feel the onus is on me to pick up th slack and get stretching her, as she is in a very mixed ability group and many have ESL.

Thanks. Val

If you child is Year 1 the school will just be using old SATs papers as an internal assessment and, as with all Y2 tests, the teacher marks them. The results mean next to nothing! The tests are linked to the criteria on the old national curriculum. Year 1 children are being taught the new national curriculum, so I do wonder why the school are doing it!

If it is just literacy being assessed there is a simple spelling test like this and a reading comprehension paper similar to this. If your child is doing well I wouldn't worry about revision or workbooks.
Writing is assessed by writing activities, so no test papers are available.

Its not a level playing field at all sunny its ridiculous the lengths some schools go to for results. The y6 children in my school get 'booster' sessions in school focusing on maths and English so that they can get the highest possible sats grade. They then get streamed for secondary who find that the kids then struggle because they are no longer getting the intensive maths and English support. One school in our borough requires the children to attend after school booster sessions 4 days a week in the run up to sats. As if the children don't spend enough time at school already
This is my first job in a school and its an eye opener (not in a good way). I hate it and I'm glad ds is away from it all.

emaths.co.uk/index.php?option=com_zoo&view=category&layout=category&Itemid=504 has past papers for free.

Op don't bother with revision guides for y2 sats they are much more relaxed and like pp said the results mean nothing. They aren't like the y6 sats, the kids barely realise they are doing them.

Sorry, that link was to KS2 papers, but the site also has some old KS1 papers on it.

If she's in year 1 there is no point in doing a SATS paper and even less point in practicing. For a start yr 1 are on a completely different curriculum to the one assessed by the current SATS papers. Even taking that into account even in year 2 when the SATS papers are given they don't count for much as assessment is based on classwork. Even if you did practice and improve her result on the paper it would be disregarded if it didn't match her class work.

Honestly, don't waste your, or her time.

Google test base if you want to look at some - but don't worry about working through any - if she is ready she won't need prepping it will just be to see where she is.
The fact she has been asked to do it just means she is doing well in school

if I was told to buy a revision guide, I would tell that lazy teacher to stick it where the sun don't shine if I was told to buy a revision guide, I would tell that lazy teacher to stick it where the sun don't shine.

I would politely tell the teacher that I would not be buying my child any such thing. And I am a teacher. I would be thinking the above comment, though

That comment was evidently so good, I reposted it twice

We'd all be thinking it Feenie.

Fairgame, it honestly isn't like that in all schools. It can be a quirk of some outstanding schools with good results. It's why you'll see posters on here saying that ofsted outstanding doesn't always mean outstanding.

I've worked in schools for more than twenty years and never experienced what you describe fair game it sounds terrible!

OP what age is your child?
The Key Stage 2 (age 11) tests are over and all tests were collected from schools over a week ago.
The Key Stage 1 (age 7) tests are only there to support the teacher's ongoing assessment and aren't even reported anywhere so it seems odd your child's teacher should be suggesting this.

Our results are excellent - we manage this without revision guides, cancelling the curriculum, booster classes, or any of the crap Y6 stuff you read on MN. It's possible.

That's good to hear. I'm glad my school is an anomly rather than the norm!
I remember doing sats when was in y6 (1996 ) and they weren't stressful at all. We tried our best and that was it. These kids are too young to cope with the pressure that is put on them.

I think the focus on SATs and ofsted ratings is horrendous, I don't blame the teachers but the kids are being taught to the test in a lot of schools, from speaking to other parents. We need our young people to learn to think creatively and innovatively - not to tick a box - for the development of science, the arts, commerce etc. I'm not blaming the teachers - they are locked into this system and would like to teach creatively and innovatively too.

OP - please don't worry about test papers for a year 1! Spend time playing imaginative games with her and exploring her world, culture and everything on offer local to you - long term this will have more value (and will probably have greater impact on the grades that are relevant for your child, GCSEs & A levels (or whatever it is your child sits by then))

OP there is no point in your Y1 child taking the test... Year1 is following a completely different curriculum without levels.

Please can I thank everybody who has contributed to this thread. I have gratefully appreciated it and it has cleared up a few things for me. I think the first thing I need to do is approach the class teacher and clarify a few things regarding this test.

I will report back!