SATs date back to 1991 when the Conservatives had a trial run of Standard Assessment Tasks for six and seven-year-olds in infant schools across England and Wales. Later these tests were formalized as written tests in English, Maths and Science to be taken at the end of Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. National testing serves to show how pupils and schools throughout Great Britain are performing in accordance with the Government’s National Curriculum.

The Government scrapped National school testing for 14-year-olds in England as part of a major shake up of testing in primary and secondary education in October 2008.  Key Stage 3 National Curriculum tests are to be replaced by better and more intensive classroom assessment by teachers and more frequent reporting of pupils’ progress to parents. As part of the reforms, an annual School Report Card will be drawn up for every school in England, awarding it a grade from A-F.

While some form of objective comparison of achievement among schools and pupils is useful, there is growing discontent at the high level of stress caused to pupils (particularly at primary level) by national testing and the restrictions placed upon the school curriculum (teaching to the test in Year 6). The BBC’s Education web site (13 May 08) offers a comprehensive review of these concerns based on recent findings of The Commons schools, children and families committee.

A good source of information about the structuring of SATs within the UK is also to be found at the BBC’s Education web site. For more precise detail as to helping your child to mastering the skills required at the various Key Stages, a good source of information is brightminds.co.uk. This is essentially a commercial site, selling a wide range of educational materials for children of all ages, but it will give you an idea of the type of activities children of different ages should be able to cope with even if you do not intend to buy.

If you would like to take a closer look at curriculum content and the concepts which underpin it, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority provides comprehensive information.

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