Year 6 SATs 2026: dates, papers, and how to prepare

Year 6 SATs (Key Stage 2 SATs) run for five days in early-to-mid May 2026 — Monday 11 May to Friday 15 May. They cover Reading, English Grammar Punctuation & Spelling, and Maths. Here's the paper-by-paper breakdown and a calm preparation framework.

The papers

Across the week, Year 6 students sit:

• Monday — English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS) Paper 1 (45 min, 50 marks)
• Monday — English Spelling (GPS Paper 2) (~15 min, 20 marks, dictated)
• Tuesday — English Reading (1 hour, 50 marks)
• Wednesday — Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic) (30 min, 40 marks)
• Thursday — Maths Paper 2 (Reasoning) (40 min, 35 marks)
• Friday — Maths Paper 3 (Reasoning) (40 min, 35 marks)

Scaled scores

Raw scores are converted to a scaled score from 80 to 120. The threshold for "expected standard" is 100. Anything from 110+ is "working at greater depth". The scaled-score conversion is published with the results in July.

What's tested in Reading

Three unrelated texts of increasing difficulty (typically a short fiction passage, a non-fiction text, and a longer fiction or poetry piece). 50 marks across the three texts. The challenge is time management more than reading ability — most children find the third text rushed.

What's tested in Maths

Arithmetic Paper 1 is pure calculation — mostly straightforward four-rules questions, fractions, decimals, percentages. Reasoning Papers 2 and 3 mix calculation with word problems, geometry, ratio and proportion, and statistics. The reasoning papers reward careful reading of questions almost as much as calculation accuracy.

Preparation framework

From January of Year 6, three short focused sessions per week of 30 minutes each is more than enough for most children. Add one full timed paper per fortnight from Easter. After each paper, spend 30 minutes going through wrong answers — categorise into "silly mistake", "didn't know it", "didn't understand the question". The middle category is what to revise next.

See our pillar KS2 SATs revision guide for a fuller framework.

Writing — teacher-assessed

Writing is not externally examined at KS2 SATs — it's teacher-assessed across the school year. Don't add "writing practice" to your SATs preparation; the school is already covering it.

What happens with the results

Results arrive in July of Year 6 and follow the child to secondary school as part of their academic record. They inform setting decisions in Year 7, but they're not used by selective schools (grammars set their own 11+).