SATs 2022: what time are Year 6 KS2 results released, Primary Assessment Gateway - how do scaled scores work?

Key Stage 1 (KS1) and 2 (KS2) national curriculum tests, also known as SATs, were taken by second-year (aged seven) and sixth-year (aged eleven) primary school students in May.

It was the first time SATs tests were taken in three years, after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Children’s performance is evaluated during these assessments to see whether they require additional support.

But when are those all important Key Stage 2 SATs results released? And how does the ‘scaled scoring’ system work?

Here is everything you need to know about them.

How does scaled scoring work?

Every year, new SATs tests are created according to the same specifications.

However, test difficulty might vary because the questions must be unique from last years’.

This means that in order to ensure that student performance can be compared across time accurately, the whole number of marks a student receives on a test (ie their "raw" score) must be translated into a scaled score.

Students that receive at least a 100 on their tests will have performed to the expected standard.

However, because the tests’ level of difficulty can fluctuate every year, it’s possible that the amount of raw score points required to reach a scaled score of 100 will also alter.

For instance, the raw score needed to achieve the desired standard will rise if the overall difficulty of a test falls compared to previous years.

The raw score needed to achieve the desired standard will drop as the test’s difficulty increases.

When are KS2 SATs results released?

Parents and guardians will receive their child’s scaled score for Key Stage 2 and be informed of whether or not they are meeting the required criteria.

Government regulations state that your child’s school is required to provide you a report before the end of the summer term. Both the test scores and the teacher’s evaluation comments will be included in this.

The results of the Key Stage 2 SATs were announced on Tuesday 5 July at 7.30am.

How do I access my child’s results?

Your child’s KS2 SATs results will be made available through their school.

The "View and download KS2 test results" form is available to schools under the Primary Assessment Gateway‘s "Available Activity" section.

In addition to a more in-depth results website for each subject that displays students’ raw scores, scaled scores, and test results, schools are able to view an overall results summary page that displays the scaled scores of their students for all subjects.

Schools will also be able to download their test results in the following formats:

• common transfer file (CTF), containing all test results or all test results with teacher assessment data
• comma-separated values (CSV) file, containing all test results, all test results with teacher assessment data or test results for specific subjects
• results letter, containing all test results or test results for specific subjects

Those same file formats are also available to local authorities and multi-academy trusts to examine and download test results.

They can select a specific school or academy from a pre-populated list or choose to download results for all of their schools and academies as a single file.