KS1, KS2 and SATs Explained for Parents

Here is the short version. Key Stage 1 (KS1) is Years 1 and 2, ages 5 to 7. Key Stage 2 (KS2) is Years 3 to 6, ages 7 to 11. SATs are the national curriculum tests children sit at the end of KS2, in the summer of Year 6. Results come back as scaled scores from 80 to 120, where 100 is the "expected standard" and 110 or above is generally described as the "higher standard".

That is the skeleton. The detail below explains what happens in each year, what the scores actually mean, and, just as importantly, what SATs are not.

The National Curriculum for England divides primary education into stages:

• Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS): nursery and Reception, up to age 5. Learning through play, early literacy and number.
• Key Stage 1: Years 1 and 2 (ages 5–7). The foundations: phonics, reading fluency, handwriting, number bonds, times tables begin.
• Key Stage 2: Years 3 to 6 (ages 7–11). The curriculum broadens and deepens: longer writing, fractions and decimals, science, history, geography and more.

The national assessments, in order

Along the way, children in England take a small number of standardised national assessments (GOV.UK: national curriculum tests, information for parents):

• Phonics screening check, Year 1. A short, one-to-one check of whether a child can decode words using phonics. Children who need more time retake it in Year 2.
• KS1 tests, end of Year 2 (now optional). Since the 2023/24 school year these are no longer statutory; schools can choose whether to use the optional KS1 tests to check progress in reading and maths.
• Multiplication tables check, Year 4. A short on-screen check of times-table recall up to 12 × 12.
• KS2 SATs, May of Year 6. The main event: national tests in reading, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling. Writing is assessed by teachers against national standards rather than by a test.

How SATs scoring works: scaled scores

Raw marks are converted into a scaled score so results can be compared fairly from year to year. On the official scale:

• The scale runs from 80 to 120.
• 100 or more means your child has met the expected standard for the end of primary school.
• 110 or more is what the Department for Education's statistics count as the higher standard in the tests: the top band of attainment.
• In writing, which is teacher-assessed, the equivalent top judgement is "working at greater depth".

So when a school talks about "the expected standard", it means scaled scores of 100+; "the higher standard" or "the top band" means 110+.

What SATs are, and what they are not

Worth being clear-eyed about:

• SATs are not an exam your child can fail. There is no pass certificate and no direct consequence for the child. Secondary schools receive the results and may use them to group pupils early on, but places at non-selective secondaries do not depend on them.
• SATs are not the 11+. Selective schools run their own entrance tests, usually in the autumn of Year 6, months before SATs. The two are separate systems.
• SATs are a school accountability measure and a genuinely useful progress check. They tell you, on a national yardstick, whether your child has secured the core of primary maths and English. That is worth knowing before secondary school, not after.

Good preparation is unglamorous: secure teaching across six years, reading every day, and gaps spotted early, not a panicked spring term of past papers.

How assessment works at Daffodil

As an independent school we are not required to enter pupils for national assessments, but we choose to sit all of them, including the phonics screening check and KS1 and KS2 SATs, precisely because a national yardstick keeps us honest. Alongside them we run weekly literacy and numeracy quizzes, regular one-to-one reading assessments, and internal reviews every week, month and term, with parent–teacher meetings every half term. Nothing waits until May of Year 6 to be discovered. In our most recent Key Stage 2 SATs, every pupil achieved the highest band in maths and English.

You can see how the whole regime fits together on our assessment and results page, and what is taught in each key stage on our curriculum page.

Frequently asked questions