The majority of the UK will have heard of SATs. They’re that Year 6 exam sat ages ago for a lot of the population, and a lot of people might have forgotten about them already. However, there are still thousands of students that take the SATs exam each year – there may be a lot of worry about the exams. Such as, with the SATs exams looming over parents and students alike, when will those SATs results come out?
While it’s not a concrete date that’s been set yet, the expected standard for the results to come out is in July. Last year, the results came out on the 11th of July 2023, so it is expected that this trend will continue this year as well. SATs are generally sat in May, so this is a waiting time of around 2 months before results are shared to parents.
While this may have given you a very brief overview on when SATs results come out, it may be helpful to continue reading for a more nuanced guide.
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What are SATs?
Standard Assessment Tests, more commonly known as SATs, are a set of exams in the UK for almost all KS1 and KS2 children. They are a set of exams for the end of both Key Stages, and feature a range of topics such as English language, punctuation, grammar, spelling, and then maths tests.
KS2 SATs (also known as Year 6 SATs) are compulsory, but schools are allowed to choose if they would like to let their pupils do KS1 SATs (also known as Year 2 SATs).
These tests are national standards, but teachers may decide to set additional assessments for classwork. These will often be on writing, as well as science.
Children taking KS1 SATs will be between the ages of 6 and 7 (Year 2), whereas children taking KS2 SATs will be between the ages of 10 and 11 (Year 6).
SATs Papers has declared that this year’s (2024) SATs exams will be taken inside student classrooms. However, from personal experience, some people’s SATs were taken inside the large cafeteria hall, so things really have changed! To read more information about the conduction of this year’s SATs, check out this guide from SATs Papers!
To read more about what SATs are, exactly, check out this article from Think Student.
When do SATs results come out?
The month when SATs results come out is pretty much fixed, but the exact date isn’t. SATs results will come out in 2024 in July. Last year, in 2023, the results came out on the 11th July 2023, so we can expect a similar trend to appear here.
This is the expected standard, as it takes roughly two months to mark all those papers. However, while the expected standard is July, that precise date might be subject to variation.
To read more about when SATs results come out, check out this brief article from Third Space Learning!
When are SATs taken?
For this academic year, SATs Papers have provided that the date for the commencing week of SATs will be Monday 13th May 2024. The tests will take place over four days, and the timetable is shown below:
- Monday 13th May 2024: Grammar, Punctuation & Spelling (Paper 1 & 2)
- Tuesday 14th May 2024: English Reading
- Wednesday 15th May 2024: Maths Paper 1 (Arithmetic), Maths Paper 2 (Reasoning)
- Thursday 16th May 2024: Maths Paper 3 (Reasoning)
To read more about this, check out their article here.
Since KS1 SATs are at the school’s discretion, their timetables will vary as it is up to them on how they conduct the KS1 SATs.
What do SATs exams involve?
We’ve talked a bit about the subjects involved in the SATs, but it can be helpful to get a refresher of what exams you actually have to sit, and then get results for.
Below is the list of things assessed in Key Stage 1 SATs (timings for this set of SATs aren’t standardised and this is the approximation of how long it takes students to complete each exam):
- English reading (2 exams: 40 minutes and 30 minutes)
- Arithmetic (Maths) (20 minute exam)
- Reasoning (Maths) (35 minute exam)
- Optional Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (two exams, both 35 minutes)
Below is the list of things assessed in Key Stage 2 SATs (here, timings are a lot more strictly enforced):
- Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS) (45 minutes)
- Spelling test (20 minutes)
- English reading (60 minutes)
- Maths arithmetic (30 minutes)
- Maths Reasoning (2 papers, both 40 minutes)