Here you will find useful information about how your child is assessed in the Year 1 Phonics Screening, Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check and Year 6 Key Stage 2 SATs, as well as how you can help your child to prepare.

Year 1 Phonics Screening

Do you have a child in year 1 at primary school?

If so, your child will take part in the phonics screening check in June.

The purpose of the phonics screening check is to confirm that all children have learned phonic decoding to an age appropriate standard.

With some exceptions, all pupils who have reached the age of 6 by the end of the school year must take the check during that academic year. For most pupils, this will be in year 1.

You can find the exact assessment dates for each academic year in the primary assessments future dates.

What is phonics?

Phonics is an effective way of teaching children to read. By ensuring high quality phonics teaching, we want to improve literacy levels and give all children a solid base to build on as they progress through school.

Through phonics, children are taught how to:

• recognise the sounds that each individual letter makes
• identify the sounds that different combinations of letters make, such as ‘sh’ or ‘oo’
• blend these sounds together from left to right to make a word

Children can then use this knowledge to ‘decode’ new words that they hear or see. This is the first important step in learning to read.

What is the phonics screening check?

The phonics screening check contains 40 words divided into 2 sections of 20 words. Both sections contain a mixture of real words and pseudo-words.

Pseudo-words are words that are phonically decodable but are not actual words with an associated meaning. They are included in the check specifically to assess whether your child can decode a word using their phonics skills.

All pseudo-words in the check are accompanied by a picture of an imaginary creature. Children are taught that when a word has a creature next to it, it is a pseudo-word. This ensures that they are not trying to match the pseudo-word to a word in their vocabulary.

The check is designed to give teachers information on how your child is progressing in phonics. It will help to identify whether your child needs additional support at this stage, so that they do not fall behind in this vital early reading skill.

Further information for parents

The following link gives you some useful information about how phonics is taught, including how to pronounce the 44 sounds:

Phonics Made Easy

Year 4 Multiplication Tables Check (MTC)

Do you have a child in year 4 at primary school?

If so, your child will be participating in the multiplication tables check (MTC) in June.

The purpose of the check is to determine whether your child can fluently recall their times tables up to 12, which is essential for future success in mathematics. It will also help your child’s school to identify if your child may need additional support.

What is the multiplication tables check?

It is an onscreen check consisting of 25 times table questions. Your child will be able to answer 3 practice questions before taking the actual check. They will then have 6 seconds to answer each question. On average, the check should take no longer than 5 minutes to complete.

Further information for parents

Key Stage 2 SATs Tests

What are key stage 2 tests?

If you have a child in year 6, at the end of key stage 2 (KS2) they will take national curriculum assessments in:

• English grammar, punctuation and spelling
• English reading
• mathematics

Some people refer to these tests as SATs.

The tests help measure the attainment of pupils in relation to the standards set out in the national curriculum, and help teachers and parents identify where pupils may need additional support in a certain subject area. The test results are also used to report publicly on schools’ performance via the Department for Education’s (DfE) Compare School and College Performance service and to produce national and regional performance statistics.

Your child will sit the KS2 tests on scheduled dates set by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA). If your child is absent on a scheduled test day, they may be able to take any missed test up to 5 school days afterwards. Your child’s school must apply for a timetable variation and receive approval from STA to allow for this.

For the academic year 2025 to 2026, the KS2 tests are scheduled to take place from Monday 11 May to Thursday 14 May 2026:

Date	Tests
Monday 11 May	English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 1: questions
Monday 11 May	English grammar, punctuation and spelling Paper 2: spelling
Tuesday 12 May	English reading
Wednesday 13 May	Mathematics Paper 1: arithmetic
Wednesday 13 May	Mathematics Paper 2: reasoning
Thursday 14 May	Mathematics Paper 3: reasoning

Are there any other assessments?

There are no tests for English writing or science at the end of KS2, but performance in these subjects will be reported as a teacher assessment judgement. Your child’s teachers will make this judgement based on your child’s overall work and performance in the subject. As with the tests, this will help to indicate if your child needs more support in the subject.

Teacher assessment judgements in English writing may be externally moderated by the school’s local authority. This is a collaborative process between the school and local authority moderator, to ensure that judgements are consistent with national standards.

If your child is working below the standards of the national curriculum in one or more subjects, they may be assessed under an alternative teacher assessment – either the:

• pre-key stage 2 standards, if they are engaged in subject-specific study

• engagement model, if they are not engaged in subject-specific study

Your child’s school will inform you if this is the case.

When will my child receive their results?

Schools can view KS2 test results online from Tuesday 7 July 2026.

Your child’s school will decide how they issue test results and teacher assessment judgements to pupils and parents, but you should receive them by the end of the summer term.

Your child’s school will also discuss your child’s overall performance at the end of KS2 with you before the summer holidays and give you the opportunity to raise any questions or concerns you may have about your child’s results.

Schools will review test papers and submit marking review applications if they believe the marking scheme has not been applied correctly. In the rare cases where revisions to results are necessary, they are made once the review process is complete at the end of the summer holidays.

The secondary school your child is moving to will also be able to access your child’s results. This helps them plan how best to support new pupils on entry.

Further information

Your child’s teacher will be able to answer any questions about the tests and teacher assessment judgements.

For more details, you can also visit www.gov.uk/STA.