KS2 maths SATs: a guide to the Year 6 maths SATs papers

When are the KS2 maths SATs in 2027?

The KS2 maths SATs in 2027 are on Wednesday 12 May (papers 1 and 2) and Thursday 13 May (paper 3). They're part of a week of tests that the Standards and Testing Agency sets for every Year 6 child in England. Some people call them SATs; GOV.UK calls them the key stage 2 national curriculum tests.

Date	Test
Monday 10 May 2027	English grammar, punctuation and spelling, papers 1 and 2
Tuesday 11 May 2027	English reading
Wednesday 12 May 2027	Maths paper 1: arithmetic, and maths paper 2: reasoning
Thursday 13 May 2027	Maths paper 3: reasoning

Every school sits the tests on the same days. If your child is off ill on a test day, the school can ask the Standards and Testing Agency for permission to let them take the missed test up to 5 school days later.

What's in the Year 6 maths SATs papers?

There are three Year 6 maths SATs papers, and together they're worth 110 marks and take 110 minutes. All three are done on paper, and the questions in each one get gradually harder.

Paper	What it is	Time	Marks
Paper 1: arithmetic	Calculations with no words or pictures	30 minutes	40
Paper 2: reasoning	Problem solving and reasoning	40 minutes	35
Paper 3: reasoning	Problem solving and reasoning	40 minutes	35

The papers test the KS2 maths curriculum from Year 3 to Year 6, and some Year 1 and Year 2 maths can come up too. Not every topic appears every year, but over time the tests cover all of it. Between 75% and 85% of the marks are for number, ratio and algebra, and between 15% and 25% are for measurement, geometry and statistics.

Paper 1: arithmetic

Paper 1 is 40 marks of calculations to work out in 30 minutes. The 2024 and 2025 papers each had 36 questions. They cover the four operations with whole numbers, decimals, fractions and percentages: things like column subtraction, short division, adding fractions, multiplying fractions and percentages of amounts. To try a whole paper in the same format, use our free SATs arithmetic practice: 36 questions of our own, marked on screen or printed with the answers.

Most questions are worth 1 mark. Long multiplication and long division questions are worth 2 marks. If the final answer is wrong, a child can still get 1 mark for using the formal written method correctly. The test framework says that partial mark isn't given for the grid method or for chunking, so the formal methods are worth knowing well by May. Here's long multiplication laid out the formal way:

1. Multiply by the 6 ones: 243 × 6 = 1,458.
2. Multiply by the 3 tens, which is × 30: write a 0 in the ones column first as a placeholder, then 243 × 3 = 729, so 243 × 30 = 7,290.
3. Add the rows: 1,458 + 7,290 = 8,748.

Papers 2 and 3: reasoning

Papers 2 and 3 are 35 marks each, with 40 minutes for each paper. They test fluency, problem solving and reasoning: children have to decide which maths to use, and some problems take more than one step. Up to half of the marks are for questions set in a real-life context, like shopping, timetables or recipes. This is where measurement, shape, ratio, graphs and charts come in.

The questions come in different forms. Some are multiple choice, matching, or true or false. Others ask for a single answer, a completed table or a drawing. A few ask children to explain how they know something. On questions worth more than 1 mark, a mark can be given for the right working even if the final answer is wrong.

What equipment can children use?

For paper 1, children need a pen or a dark pencil and a ruler, and a rubber if they want one. For papers 2 and 3 they also have a sharp pencil for drawing, a ruler marked in centimetres and millimetres, a protractor (angle measurer) and a mirror. Calculators aren't on the list for any paper.

How do KS2 maths SATs marks become a scaled score?

KS2 maths SATs results are given as a scaled score from 80 to 120, and a score of 100 or more means your child has met the expected standard. Trained markers outside the school mark the papers on screen. The marks from all three papers are added up to give a raw score out of 110, and the raw score is then converted to a scaled score.

The conversion is needed because each year's papers are new, so one year's test can be a little easier or harder than the year before. If the test is harder, fewer raw marks are needed for a score of 100; if it's easier, more are needed. That way a score of 100 means the same standard every year. The Standards and Testing Agency publishes the conversion table for each year's test on GOV.UK after the results come out, so nobody can say in advance exactly how many marks will be needed.

A few other things are worth knowing:

• Children need to take all three maths papers to get a scaled score.
• There's a minimum number of raw marks for the lowest scaled score of 80.
• Some neighbouring raw scores convert to the same scaled score, and some scaled scores can't be reached in a particular year.

How are KS2 maths SATs results reported to parents?

Your child's school gives you their KS2 SATs results by the end of the summer term. Schools can see the results online from Tuesday 6 July 2027, and each school decides how to share them. The results come with an annual report on your child's strengths, achievements and progress, including teacher assessments in English writing and science. The report should also let you compare your child's results with other Year 6 children in the school and across England.

A scaled score below 100 means your child may need more support to reach the expected standard. A score of 100 or more means they're working at, or above, the expected standard for the end of key stage 2. Your child's individual results aren't published by the school or the Department for Education. Their secondary school can see them, so it can plan how to support them when they start in September. The school will also talk you through your child's results before the summer holidays, and that's a good time to ask any questions.

Year 6 maths SATs papers from previous years

The Standards and Testing Agency publishes the real Year 6 maths SATs papers on GOV.UK after each year's tests, with the mark schemes and the instructions teachers read out. We don't host or copy them, so here are the official pages:

• Key stage 2 tests: 2026 mathematics test materials
• Key stage 2 tests: 2025 mathematics test materials
• Key stage 2 tests: 2024 mathematics test materials

Each page has paper 1 (arithmetic), papers 2 and 3 (reasoning) and the mark schemes as PDFs. If you use them as practice papers at home, one paper at a time is plenty. Afterwards, go through the mark scheme together and look at how the marks are given, rather than just adding up the score. The scaled score page on GOV.UK links to the conversion tables if you're curious, but a score from a practice paper at home doesn't tell you what your child will get in May.

KS2 maths SATs arithmetic questions to try

These are our own questions, in the style of paper 1. Encourage your child to use the written methods they've learned at school.

1. 4,206 − 1,358
2. 345 × 26
3. 1,512 ÷ 24
4. ³⁄₄ + ¹⁄₈
5. 0.6 × 7
6. 25% of 480

Answers

1. 2,848
2. 8,970 (long multiplication, worth 2 marks in the real test)
3. 63 (long division, also worth 2 marks)
4. ⁷⁄₈
5. 4.2
6. 120

How to help your child prepare for the KS2 maths SATs

The best preparation is steady, calm practice of the maths they already do at school, not cramming.

• Keep the times tables quick. Long multiplication, long division, fractions and percentages all lean on them. Our times table check practice works like the Year 4 check, and our times tables test mixes up all the tables from 2 to 12.
• Practise the formal written methods. A few long multiplication and long division questions a week keeps them fresh, and they're where the method marks are. Stick to the method your child's school teaches.
• Talk through reasoning questions. Ask "how did you work that out?" and "how could you check it?" Explaining out loud is exactly what papers 2 and 3 ask for.
• Use maths in everyday life. Sale prices, recipes, bus timetables and sports scores are all reasoning questions in disguise.
• Keep it in proportion. The tests are one week in May. Short sessions, plenty of sleep and a normal routine help far more than long evenings of papers. If your child is worried, their teacher is the best person to talk to.

For everything else your child learns this year, see our Year 6 maths guide.