Key Stage 2 Pupils

End of KS2 Tests

Towards the end of Year 6, children will take assessments in:

•  Reading
•  English grammar, punctuation and spelling
•  Maths

Reading

• The test consists of 1 paper
•  Children will complete the test independently
• The texts will cover a range of poetry, fiction and non-fiction
•  Questions are designed to assess the comprehension and understanding of a child’s reading.

Grammar, punctuation and spelling

•  The test consists of 2 separate papers; spelling and grammar, and punctuation questions
•  Children will complete the tests independently.
• The spelling test is 20 questions taken from spellings throughout Key Stage 2.
•  The grammar and punctuation test assesses the children in many areas such as: word classes, tenses, punctuation and more advanced grammar.

Maths

•  Children will sit three tests
•  Children will complete the tests independently.
•  Paper 1 covers arithmetic. It covers calculation methods for all addition, subtraction, division and multiplication. It also tests children on percentages, fractions, decimals and ratio.
•  Paper 2 and 3 cover problem solving, reasoning and mathematical fluency covering all elements of the Key Stage 2 curriculum. Writing

•  Children will not complete a writing test.
•  Children will be assessed using a stringent framework dictated by the Statutory Assessment Agency.
•  Assessments will be based on writing content, use of a full range of punctuation, use of vocabulary, correct spelling and handwriting.

How you can help your child

Maths

There are lots of ways you can help your child in Maths at home, especially when they are in Key Stage 2 (Years 3, 4, 5 or 6). At this stage in their school lives, children encounter more complicated Maths problems and have to be able to reason and master a range of areas of Mathematics.

Every day presents lots of opportunities to develop their Maths skills; you could ask your child to pay for things in a shop, count change, measure ingredients when cooking or even show you how they do Maths in school! Lots of parents say 'they don't do it how I used to do it!' and this is indeed true, so why not ask your child to show you what they have learned in Maths each day?

There are lots of ideas and extra guidance for parents in our Key Stage 2 Maths Parent Handbooks, which can be found on this website. There is one for Lower KS2 (Years 3 and 4) and one for Upper KS2 (Years 5 and 6). Feel free to pop into school anytime and ask a teacher for help.

Writing

There are many different elements to writing and there is a lot for children to think about all at the same time. Practising any of the below will help them to develop their writing.

• Practising and learning weekly spellings. Look, Cover, Write, Check is an old favourite but there are plenty of games you can play such as: snap, hangman, pairs.
• Using a thesaurus or Microsoft Word to look up alternatives for boring words. Use these new words to make sentences.
• Reading! The more words we come across the better vocabulary we have and therefore, the more effective we are as writers.
• Handwriting practice. The letter formation we use in school in the English Parent Handbook for each year group.
• Encouraging children to write for a whole host of reasons – a letter to a friend/relative, a recount of an experience or trip somewhere, a story or a poem.
• Talking as much as possible. The more we talk, the more effective we are at communicating our ideas in all forms.