National statistics

National curriculum assessments at key stage 2 in England, 2019 (interim)

Published 9 July 2019

Applies to England

1. Introduction

This publication provides interim statistics for attainment in key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum assessments.

Pupils take national curriculum assessments in year 6 at the end of KS2, when most pupils will reach age 11 by the end of the school year. Pupils take tests (commonly referred to as SATs) in reading, maths and grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) and receive a statutory teacher assessment (TA) in writing and science.

This release provides interim statistics on attainment in the following KS2 assessments:

• reading test
• maths test
• GPS test
• writing TA

Attainment in 2019 is compared to previous years where appropriate.

2. Attainment in reading, writing and maths

65% of pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths (combined) in 2019, up from 64% in 2018.

Attainment in all of reading, writing and maths (combined) is not directly comparable to earlier years (2016 and 2017) because of changes to writing TA frameworks in 2017.

To reach the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths, a pupil must achieve a scaled score of 100 or more in reading and maths tests and an outcome of ‘reaching the expected standard’ or ‘working at greater depth’ in writing TA.

3. Attainment in individual subjects

3.1 Attainment in writing teacher assessment

In writing TA, 78% of pupils reached the expected standard in 2019, unchanged from 2018.

Changes made within the 2017/18 writing TA frameworks mean judgements are not directly comparable to those made using the previous interim frameworks in 2016 and 2017.

To reach the expected standard in writing TA, a pupil must achieve an outcome of ‘reaching the expected standard’ or ‘working at greater depth’.

3.2 Attainment in reading, maths and GPS tests

In reading, 73% of pupils reached the expected standard in 2019, down by 2 percentage points from 2018.

In maths, 79% of pupils reached the expected standard, up by 3 percentage points from 2018.

In GPS, 78% of pupils reached the expected standard, unchanged from 2018.

To reach the expected standard in each test subject, a pupil must achieve a scaled score of 100 or more.

All percentage point differences are calculated using unrounded figures.

Percentage reaching the expected standard: England, 2016-2019 (all schools)	2016	2017	2018	2019
Reading test	66	72	75	73
Maths test	70	75	75	79
GPS test	73	77	78	78

Source: Final KS2 data (2016 - 2018), Interim KS2 data (2019)

3.3 Average scaled scores in reading, maths and GPS tests

We use scaled scores to report the results of tests so we can make accurate comparisons of performance over time.

The average scaled score in reading is 104, down from 105 in 2018. The average scaled score in maths is 105, up from 104. The average scaled score in GPS is unchanged at 106.

Average scaled score: England, 2016-2019 (all schools)	2016	2017	2018	2019
Reading test	103	104	105	104
Maths test	103	104	104	105
GPS test	104	106	106	106

Source: Final KS2 data (2016 - 2018), Interim KS2 data (2019)

The average scaled score is calculated as the mean scaled score of all pupils awarded a scaled score. It gives us a measure of the typical performance of a pupil taking the tests. It is affected by the performance of pupils at all points in the range of scores. By contrast, the percentage of pupils achieving the expected standard focuses on the share of pupils above or below one particular score (100). As a consequence, changes in one measure may not be matched by changes in the other measure of the same size and direction.

4. About these statistics

This publication provides interim statistics for attainment in key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum assessments for pupils in schools in England. It provides some key figures at national level to help schools and parents put results in context. There are no additional tables accompanying this release.

4.1 The expected standard

Key stage 2 assessments tell us if pupils have met the expected standard in five subjects by the end of primary school:

• reading
• maths
• writing
• grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS)
• science

Tests are used to assess pupils in reading, maths and GPS. Statutory teacher assessment is used to assess pupils in writing and science.

In the tests, pupils meet the expected standard if they achieve a scaled score of 100 or more. The test frameworks provide performance descriptors for the typical characteristics of pupils working at the expected standard.

The teacher assessment frameworks include ‘pupil can’ statements. For example, ‘the pupil can maintain legibility in joined handwriting when writing at speed’. To meet the expected standard, the teacher must judge there to be evidence that the pupil can meet all of the relevant statements.

DfE raised the expected standard in 2016, following the introduction of a new, more challenging national curriculum in 2014.

DfE considers meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths to be key for success in secondary school and beyond. Therefore, we report on the proportion of pupils who meet the expected standard in these three subjects.

4.2 Pupils not meeting the standard

It’s incorrect to say pupils who have not met the expected standard in reading cannot read, or that those who have not met the expected standard in writing cannot write, and so on.

There’s a spectrum of attainment among pupils who do not meet the expected standard, with some coming close and others further away.

A pupil who achieves below the expected standard will still be able to read. For example, they may be able to retrieve simple information from a text but be unable to make developed inferences about what they have read.

We also classify pupils as not meeting the expected standard when it’s not been possible to assess their ability, for example, because of absence. This is the case for less than 1% of pupils.

4.3 Assessment purpose

Statutory assessments at key stage 2 determine the attainment of pupils at the end of primary school. Their results are used to hold schools to account for the attainment and progress made by their pupils and to monitor performance locally and nationally.

5. Further information will be available

Further provisional statistics will be published on 5 September 2019 in the ‘National curriculum assessments: key stage 2 (provisional)’ publication. We will publish revised figures in the ‘National curriculum assessments at key stage 2 (revised)’ publication in December 2019. Any unplanned revisions will be made in accordance with our statistical policy statement on revisions.

5.1 Local authority level figures

Local authority level data - including data broken down by gender - will be published in the provisional publication on 5 September.

Local authority level data with pupil characteristics breakdowns - including data broken down by gender, ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, special educational needs provision and disadvantage - will be published in the revised publication in December.

5.2 Local authority district level figures

Local authority district level data - including data broken down by gender - will be published in the provisional publication on 5 September.

Local authority district level data with pupil characteristics breakdowns - including data broken down by free school meal eligibility and disadvantage - will be published in the revised publication in December.

5.3 National level figures

National level data with pupil characteristics breakdowns - including data broken down by ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, special educational needs provision, disadvantage and the disadvantage gap index - will be published in the provisional publication on 5 September.

5.4 Progress measures

Progress measures for different pupil groups and for local authorities will be published in the revised publication in December.

5.5 School level figures

School level data will be published on the Compare School and College Performance website in December.

5.6 School type breakdowns

Breakdowns by school type will be published in the provisional publication on 5 September.

5.7 Previously published figures

Key stage 2 and multi-academy trust performance, 2018 (revised).

Primary school performance tables 2018.

5.8 National statistics

The United Kingdom Statistics Authority designated these statistics as National Statistics in September 2014, in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and signifying compliance with the code of practice for official statistics. Designation can be broadly interpreted to mean that the statistics:

• meet identified user needs
• are well explained and readily accessible
• are produced according to sound methods
• are managed impartially and objectively in the public interest

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the code of practice shall continue to be observed. Information on improvements made to these statistics to continue their compliance with the Code of Practice will be provided in a quality and methodology information document to be published on 5th September 2019. The Department has a set of statistical policies in line with the code of practice for statistics.

5.9 Technical Information

A quality and methodology information document will be prepared to accompany the provisional publication on 5 September 2019. This will provide further information on data sources, their coverage and quality and explain the methodology used to produce the statistics, including how data is validated and processed.

National curriculum assessment figures published here are based on test and teacher assessment data provided to the Department by the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) on 6 July 2019. This provision contained data for all marked key stage 2 tests and teacher assessments for 99.8% of all pupils.

The data will also be used to prepare the 2019 primary school performance tables. Performance tables data will be shared with schools and local authorities as part of the checking exercise in early September 2019.

6. Contact us

Media enquiries

Press Office News Desk
Department for Education
Sanctuary Buildings
Great Smith St
London
SW1P 3BT

Telephone 020 7783 8300

Primary attainment statistics team

Email primary.attainment@education.gov.uk

Simon Dickason 020 7783 8761