Maddy Barnes on preparing for the 2024 SATs

Based on the 2023 QLA information, the most demanding items that performed least well across the test nationally were in the last 10 questions of Paper 1. Although these questions are at the end of the test, content from KS1 and LKS2 is tested alongside content from UKS2. 

Of the ten most challenging questions, five of them were testing grammatical word classes; one of the questions tested punctuation; one tested vocabulary and two tested verb forms. 

For Question 40, the pupils were asked to circle the adverbs in this sentence. 42.9% of pupils got that correct because the correct response is the word ‘quite.’ 

Less secure pupils, when they see the word ‘adverb’ automatically think it will be a word that ends in ‘ly.’ As there is not a word ending with 'ly' in the sentence, their default setting is not there either - their security net is gone. When we are challenging pupils with the questions towards the end of the paper, the pupils need to be able to reason with grammar. 

Implications for teachers

One thing we have to look at is: what does a capital letter or full stop question look like in Year 1, and how do we make that more demanding and challenging in Years 3 and 5, so we can prepare our pupils to answer the questions that come at the end of the Key Stage 2 paper and have proven to be very challenging based on the QLA?

Wh en we look at the seven least-well-performing words in the 2023 spelling test, four of them come from Year 3 and 4 and three of them from Year 5 and 6. The least-well-performing word, which was less than 30%, was number 19, ‘Optician,’ which comes from the Year 3 and 4 Curriculum. The statistics support that our pupils in Year 6 are perhaps accessing the Year 5 and 6 spellings but they’re not fully reviewing the spellings from the Year 3 and 4 curriculum, and that has huge implications for teachers across the whole of Key Stage 2. 

Spelling number 20 was ‘currant,’ obviously a homophone and in terms of what we eat. Many students will have written the word ‘current’ in a scientific terminology way, but that wasn’t the correct spelling of this word.

Recommendations for 2024

• How are we making sure that our pupils are first practising a skill when they are introduced to it in Year 1 and 2, and are then being challenged to really reason with that skill? For example, adverbs can be at the front of the sentence, or don’t have to be next to the verb.
• We need to be sure that the style or the approach that we are using to teach grammar is absolutely embedded in reviewing previous year groups’ knowledge and building upon them, so perhaps using the NTSA test to make sure that pupils have got progression within their testing and understanding across Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. 
• One of the issues is the instructional language of the test – circling, underlining, matching, tick one. Sometimes, some pupils lose the mark because they haven’t fully understood it. 
• We want pupils to understand that grammar is exciting, and grammar is a powerful tool of language they can use in their writing and make their writing better. 

There are many different types of resources that will support teachers to prepare pupils to be able to access the Key Stage 2 Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling tests. One of those would be a resource that supports pupil revision and supports pupils being able to apply their knowledge across different activities. This is the Achieve series.

The Achieve series targets pupils who are at the expected standard and pupils who are at the higher standard. It also has a practice book and a revision book, so pupils can work through examples with a flow chart visual that helps them to really understand, what is the question asking them to do, and then there is an opportunity for them to apply that in activities. These resources can be used in school, in the classroom, or perhaps for homework. 

A second resource that would support the teaching in a different way would be testing pupils with NTS Assessments to familiarise them with the style and format of National Tests. Rather than being used as a classroom resource, these are used in schools to be able to track pupils’ data across time so pupils can be tested in different year groups from Year 1 to 6, and schools are able to track year groups that are underperforming. They can also be used as a check for the coverage that’s been taught in that year group to ensure that teachers themselves can reflect and consider that all the teaching of the Curriculum has been done that academic year.

To find out more about the NTS Assessments, click here:

• Reading
• Mathematics 

Maddy Barnes is an experienced primary school teacher and senior leader who is currently a full-time English Advisor. She offers bespoke training to support schools locally, nationally and internationally. Maddy still regularly teaches in the classroom and includes live-teaching sessions in most of her training. Maddy is an established educational author, writer, blogger and series editor for a range of educational publishers. She is a DfE QA proofer for grammar and reading and works within test development. Maddy is a KS2 Writing Moderator and blogs regularly for a range of educational settings.