SATS results consequences. What happens exactly if you fail SATs?

[Megan70]

I haven't done SATS, so I don't know exactly what it is. All I know is that there is a lot of pressure in the kids, but I read that some schools don't do them. Does that mean is not compulsory? Can anyone opt out?.

I have a child in year 6 and is already stressed out by the teachers saying he will not "pass SATs" as if it is something so dramatic. What happens if you fail SATs, do you have to pass it again? Does that mean that you cannot go to secondary? I have been told that it could affect which secondary school will accept you or not, but actually you get the confirmation of your secondary school in march and SATs are in May. I just don't get exactly what the consequences are. What happens if you fail SATs in year 6?

There is no automatic, direct consequence (talk of 'resits' in Y7 have not amounted to any change in policy thus far); and a (state, non-selective) secondary school most certainly cannot refuse to accept a pupil based on KS2 data.

The results will be given to the child's secondary school - and how they are used will very much depend on the school. They could be used to set/stream the child; to set GCSE targets; even, if it's a poor school, to limit GCSE options. A good school, however, will do its own assessments, and take the KS2 data with a pinch of salt.

The primary school is anxious, because it is judged by its pupils' SATs results. This is very much not your problem, nor your son's.

Nothing happens and, as a parent, you can make the decision that your child doesn't even take them.

Nothing happens if you fail, except that the results are passed to your child's secondary school and it may affect the set they are put in.

Some schools are much better than others at keeping things low key and stress free for the kids. I have a DD in year 6 and she isn't stressed about them.

Most secondary schools take the SATS results with a pinch of salt because many year 6 classes are taught simply to pass the test - often at the expense of a year of meaningful interesting learning
My dd is also in year 6 and feeling stressed I’ve told her not to worry at all that they are testing the school not her . And if they do do ‘badly’ then a good secondary school should use that as an indicator that perhaps that child might need extra support with some things .
Primary schools get stressed because they are assessed on SATS results ( I speak from experience as an ex primary school teacher ) . It’s a crazy situation that has been going on for far too many years ...

My niece didn't sit hers as she was expected to fail. Parents were told well in advance. I remember it was said that it would be "too much" for her to deal with,
More likely the school wouldn't want the results.

My ds did them and is now in year 11. They have been used for setting since year 7 and then the sets adjusted accordingly in subsequent years.

They are nothing for parents and children to worry about. It's all about the data.

To be clear - you can't actually "fail" SATS and it absolutely shouldn't be presented to DC like that. SATS have an expected level and your child will be identified as working at or working below the expected level.

Zoflorabore- a child is only disapplied if they are pre- key stage. We can’t disapply just because they might not “pass”. It affects data negatively either way- better to have most try and get a standardised score of 80+ data wise than not do it at all. Even most EHCP children will have to have a bash at them.
Not really fair on anyone...

If you don't 'reach expected standard' then nothing happens.

It doesn't affect your school place.

It may affect what set you are initially placed in for some subjects at secondary, but many schools use CATs or assessments in the first few weeks, and anyway a decent school should adjust sets as needed in y7.

It will affect the base measure that a secondary school is measured on for progress made at GCSE. Under achieving against ability in SATs may mean that less is 'expected' at secondary and so interventions aren't done. (Though similarly over achieving may mean the child is told they are under-performing throughout secondary).

I spent quite a lot of y6 removing stress from DD2, whilst simultaneously saying it would be good to improve her maths and English to help her be more ready for secondary. Also the practice in exam technique and doing tests is a useful skill to develop.

So it isn't the scores that count, but what they represent. Poor literacy impacts across the curriculum at secondary so being able to say what you mean in written format is really helpful.

Generally I think SATs act as a 'rite of passage' for a y6 child and they can be beneficial if the school doesn't over stress about them.

it only really tests the school, told our school if they put too much pressuere on my dds we'd pull them out.

as for going to secondary they never used the sats and setted of their own / and teacher feedback

All the above is ignoring the fact that some of the 'G' in SPaG is completely OTT for lower ability children. But that isn't SATs, that is curriculum.

What everyone else has said.

Schools putting massive pressure on kids about SATs is a disgrace. Schools wasting valuable learning time drilling kids for worthless SATs is a disgrace.

SATs are a tool for the government to assess how well the school is doing.

It's one of the major reasons I moved my kids out of state school.

My DDs learned a lot in y6.

They consolidated their maths to provide a firmer foundation for secondary.
They improved their comprehension skills.
They learned test taking technique - reading questions carefully, pacing themselves, missing out and going back, not panicking, being resilient.
They felt really proud when completed.

And the school still did other curriculum areas.

If you as a parent keep sending clear messages then it can be a positive experience (provided school is sensible too).

Nothing happens. It's just a way of measuring the school. Might affect initial setting in Secondary School but nothing to worry about.

After our SATS results, I spoke to a parent who had been told by the teacher beforehand that their child was working below the expected level and probably wouldn't pass - they did, actually! Has your child consistently been below the expected levels in school, OP?

Should also add that my DD's secondary school did their own tests before setting children anyway!

The results are used by the government to set GCSE targets regardless of how individual secondary schools operate. So they can't simply ignore them.

"Pupils cannot be withdrawn from statutory key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests. All maintained schools as well as academies and free schools (through their funding agreements) are required to register their pupils for the tests, regardless of whether they actually sit them. The head teacher has discretion to decide whether it is appropriate for certain pupils not to sit the tests but this should only be in special circumstances, for example, if a pupil is working below the standard of the national curriculum or cannot access the tests due to disability. For pupils who do not sit the test, schools will still report teacher assessment judgements. You can find more information about the requirements for KS2 at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicatio......^_^.^^"*^

My daughters school opted out of taking them, she is now a year 10 at secondary and it still annoys them as they can’t chart her progress from year 7. Otherwise it’s not been an issue.

Confused by the incorrect info here.... pp proudmum was the school private as schools cannot opt out it doesn't work like that :/

And parents cannot withdraw children, other than not sending them in that week when they will be reported absent.

As a pp has said they learn valuable skills such as proof reading and test taking skills such as timing themselves etc. I don't agree with SATs to assess schools/children but it does set them up well for high school and future exams.

Might be too late now - but ask the secondary schools you're applying to what they do with the SATs results.

In my case it went like this (DS is reading a couple of years above his age expectations, maths and grammar about on target, he will tank completely as in 1 out of 30 if he's lucky in spelling, because he's dyslexic - but thing is, as an adult this will not matter!):

School A (maths teacher): "We spend a lot of year 7 trying to get them to realise maths is really interesting and fun, after a year of rote learning and having the fun sucked out of it by SATs."

School B (deputy head): "We use SATs to stream - we can readjust later, but usually we try not to as by that stage children will have got used to being in a certain group and we don't like to disrupt that."

Reader, school A is top of our list. School B is not on our list at all.

Presumably an independent school, villanelle? English state-maintained schools can't "opt out", so your DD's experience isn't really relevant.

Every state secondary school in the country is measured against the progress children make from KS2 to KS4. In that sense they aren’t ignored at secondary as they are used to set targets. Theoretically we know when a child arrives in Year 7 what their gcse targets are. An “average” score of 100 would indicate an expected gcse grade of 5 so the school would be pushing for this.

A local school here has just had last years SATs results cancelled due to maladministration. What happens to the pupils in this situation? Although they are already all at secondary school, I assume they can’t then use those results to chart progress?

I'm not sure how far behind she was, I know she is struggling massively still in secondary, I think she's in year 9 now and has moved schools twice.

My ds did way better than expected and weirdly has excelled in maths at secondary as opposed to English at primary and his sats reflected this at the time.

There is a special place in hell for SATS. Our "outstanding" primary puts the kids through pre-school booster classes and "essential" holiday classes from January onwards and strike the fear of god into the poor kids. I had a bollocking from the head for taking my DS on holiday IN THE EASTER HOLIDAYS. Just so the school get good results. For the school. I refused both boosters and holiday classes for my son, he did fine anyway. His secondary school then retested them all using a CATS test and completely ignored the SATS. Don't let the SATS worry your children!

God, Spartacunt , that sounds even worse than the school my kids were at.

Socks rock they use the teacher assessment to set targets which is an absolute farce (any school that cheats in the test is hardly going to be reliable when it comes to teacher assessment IMHO)