Year 6 SATS - are they really a big deal?

If you have a child in Year 6 this year, chances are that you have either attended a parents’ evening or SATS meeting at your child’s school, and you will have been made aware that the tests happen in May (normally the second or third week) and it is pretty much the focus of the Year 6 curriculum. However, I have so many parents ask me if they are really that important. Some schools give the impression that they are as important as the GCSEs, whereas others are very relaxed about them.

So, what is the truth?

To put it simply, the SATS are very important for the school itself - the results are the measure that OFSTED use to determine whether children at the school are making good progress, which helps them decide if the school is good or not (there are also a number of other factors of course, but the results have a huge bearing on their decision). This is why schools are very keen to work as hard as they can to get the best results possible, and why they will try to get parents involved in the process too.

The results are also used by secondary schools, although the degree of their use varies. Some schools will use the SATS results alone to organise children into ability groups for Maths and English; others will use the SATS and their own tests (administered at the beginning of Year 7) to determine these ability groups. These ability groups can change to reflect the progress children are making at that school, but normally they are reviewed at the end of the year.

So what does this mean for the children themselves?

Basically, if they do as well as they are able, they will be put into the most suitable ability group in secondary school, meaning they have the best chance of making good and consistent progress in their learning. If they are normally very able but don’t do well in the SATS, they could (but not always) be put into a lower group, meaning they may not receive the level of challenge that is best for them. They may not be moved into a higher group until Year 8, which means a year of learning has not been utilised. So, it is important they try their best to get the result that most suitable reflects their ability.

Not only that, but we live in a testing culture and (regardless of our own opinions) it looks like it is not going to change any time soon. The SATS do provide some very useful life skills about exams and the whole procedure, especially how one should conduct oneself in an exam hall and the importance of reading instructions carefully. However, they are not important enough for children to spend hours and hours per week revising, nor for children to spend the whole of Year 6 stressing out about what will happen across only four mornings in May.

So what should children do to prepare for them?

We will cover this much closer to the time, but here is some quick advice: children should work hard at school, complete their assigned homework, and spend the rest of the time just being children - they are given so many wonderful opportunities in Year 6, so they should relax and enjoy them!

If you would like more information on the SATS or any other aspects of primary education, please contact us and we would love to help you. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook, and you can learn more about our company or purchase our 11+ practice materials at www.ingenia-education.co.uk.