Preparing for Year 6 SATs
Year 6 SATS tests are sent away for marking and are handed out with the end of year report. The
reports are accompanied by an additional sheet that states the SAT test level and a teacher
assessment based on work throughout they year. Both carry equal weighting so get involved in your
lessons.
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Revision Tips
1. Eat healthily and drink lots of water
2. Exercise
3. Relax and enjoy yourself in your breaks
4. Have good nights sleep
5. A Quite Study Area. You need to be able to concentrate on your revision and nothing else.
The TV should be off, other people's conversations should be in another room, music should
be turned down, and phone calls should be taken after you've finished studying. Any other
thoughts in your mind should also be set aside for a later time.
6. Little and often! Remember regular, frequent, short bursts of study are best. Cramming the
night before is no use.
7. Write it down! Write down anything you need to remember. Writing information down helps
retention. Use notes, pictures, mind maps and diagrams as ways to remember things - think
of cartoons or rhymes to memorise key points.
8. Again and again! You must revise each topic again and again. Don't just read them through
once, it takes longer to sink in that just one reading and every time you read them more
information will stick in your brain. Read through your notes and repeat them to yourself
again and again, it will eventually go in.
9. Find out where you are going wrong! “It is the true nature of mankind to learn from
mistakes, not from example” (Fred Hoyle,1915 – 2001). So do not worry if you make
mistakes. Try not to make the same ones twice. Find out where you make silly errors and
plan techniques for helping you to prevent and correct them.
10. Be positive! Don't beat yourself up about things, instead be nice to yourself. Make a quick
list of five things you've done that you are proud of. This will put you in a good mood and you
will learn more. Chill out! If you are starting to lose it, and feel that the studying is getting
on top of you - take a bit of time to: breathe deeply; tell yourself how well you are doing;
remind yourself that everything is going to turn out alright; stand up straight and smile, you
will feel a bit better straight away.
Exam techniques
1. When reading questions underline key words and phrases.
2. Important words are written in bold, when you read the question you should ‘shout’ the words
in bold – in your head of course!
3. If you are having trouble understanding a question, out your hand up and ask the teacher to
read it to you, they won’t be able to tell you how to do it but hearing someone else read it
might ‘make the penny drop!’.
4. Ask any questions that you have the teachers may not be able to answer them though but it’s
best to ask anyway.
5. The person marking your exam paper is bound to feel negative if your work is untidy and
difficult to read.
6. If you are running out of time. Divide any time that's left equally between questions.
7. If your mind goes blank in an exam just sit back, close your eyes and take a few deep
breaths to calm yourself.
8. Remember, always go through your work when you finish, you never know, that mark could
mean the difference between a level 4 and a level 5!
YEAR SATS TIPS FOR MATHS
1. When reading a question highlight/ underline important words that tell you which kind of
calculation it is likely to be. Look for words like Sum (addition) and Product (multiplication).
2. Read the entire problem to learn what it is about. You may find it helpful to ask the teacher to
read the problem out loud to you, form a picture of the problem in your mind, or draw a
picture of the problem.
3. Always check that your answer is sensible.
Do a rough estimate and then see if your answer is close.
Does the answer feel about right?
Check to see you have got the units correct and that you have written your answer in a
correct way.
Check if you were asked to give the answer to a certain number of decimal places or
significant figures. If so, first write down all the figures on your calculator, then write the
answer, to the correct degree of accuracy, in the answer box.
4. In maths use the technique - Estimate, calculate and check to ensure you do not make silly
mistakes.
5. Leave yourself enough time to thoroughly check your working and answers.
6. Learn multiplication tables thoroughly
7. When you're on a calculator test, sometimes it's easier to work things out in your head rather
than by using a calculator as this sometimes saves time and effort.
8. To get level 5 in mathematics, you should be able to:
Complete calculations correctly, clearly showing appropriate working;
Give reasons and explanations to back up your answers;
Use units correctly;
Use correct mathematical notation when setting out your work.
9. If you have to ‘calculate’ a length or angle you should not measure it or use a scale diagram.
10. Whole numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine are hyphenated, whether used alone or as
part of a larger number. A whole number followed by hundred, thousand, etc., would be
written as, for example, "one hundred," and not hyphenated. In a phrase like "one hundred
and ten years," no hyphenation should be added.
YEAR 6 SATS TIPS FOR ENGLISH -1
Reading tips
1. Refer back in the text. Don’t do it from memory or general knowledge and don’t guess!
2. Re-read the whole paragraph, not just sentence.
3. Explain answer in your own words.. Don’t just copy a phrase unless it says ‘Find and copy a
phrase.’
4. Explain exactly why a word is ‘good’. Don’t just say ‘because it’s powerful / dramatic /
interesting.’
5. Don’t use the same words that are in the question to explain why they have been chosen.
Use other words to show that you understand the meaning and explain why they have been
used by the writer.
6. You can start your answer with ‘Because..’ to save time. You do not have to re-word the
question in your answer.
7. When you are explaining why something has been compared to something else, mention
both things.
Writing Tips
1. STICK TO THE TASK. If it says ‘write 3 points….’, then write three points - 2 points is no
good and neither is 4! If is says ‘ write the beginning of a story..’ then ONLY write the
beginning, you will get no marks for carrying on the story.
2. THINK - WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? WHAT AM I TRYING TO DO?
3. THINK - WHO IS MY AUDIENCE? HOW CAN I GRAB THEIR ATTENTION AND MAKE IT
INTERESTING FOR THEM?
Punctuation
Level 3
Some full stops and capitals.
Level 4c-4b Mostly accurate full stops, capitals, exclamation marks, question marks,
speech marks and commas in lists.
Level 4a
All of the above PLUS commas to marks clauses.
Level 5
All of the above PLUS brackets, dashes, colons, semi colons.
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Keep an eye out for missing full stops, weird commas, closing quotes, opening quotes, etc.
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The rules of capitalisation are quite extensive and depend somewhat on the context in which
the words are used. The basic rules are to capitalise:
The first word of a sentence
Names of the days of the week, months of the year
The pronoun I
Names, including initials, of individuals
Titles which precede names
All names of holidays (excluding any prepositions)
The first word and all nouns in a salutation
The first word in the complimentary closing of a letter
Family relationship names when they precede a name or are used in place of person's name,
especially in direct address
All words in the names of specific organizations and agencies excluding prepositions,
conjunctions, and articles
Names of languages
Names of definite sections of a country or the world
Names of nationalities
Names of religions and deities
Adjectives formed from names of geographical locations, languages, races, nationalities, and
religions
The first word and all the words in titles of books, articles, works of art, etc. excluding short
prepositions, conjunctions, and articles.
Grammar
Level 3
Mostly short simple sentences.
Very simple connectives e.g. and
Level 4c Simple connectives e.g. and/but/then/or/because/so
Simple adjectives
Simple paragraphs
Level 4b- Use of interesting adjectives
4a
Use of interesting adverbs
Sentences of three
Sentence openers – adverbs; when something happened; where something
happened
Deliberate repetition for effect
Well developed paragraphs
Level 5 Formal tone
Drop in clauses – which, who, that, where
Short sentences for effect
Sentence openers – similes; -ing word; -ed word
Use of technical terms and precise language
Varied and accurate connectives e.g. which, otherwise, however
Paragraphs organised for effect e.g. first paragraph grabs attention, last
paragraph leaves the reader with something to remember
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Grammar essentials have the biggest impact on your writing and it's these you should be
concentrating upon. They are:
Sentence variety: simple, compound, complex
Connectives
Paragraph organisation
Tense
Direct / indirect speech
Descriptive detail
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Keep an eye on verb tenses. "He pulled the pin and throws the grenade" is not a good
sentence.
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‘Should of’, ‘would of’, ‘could of’. Arrrrggggh! This is soooooo wrong! What you mean is
‘should have’, ‘would have’, ‘could have’. ‘Of’ is not a verb!
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The best way to tackle grammatical errors is to carefully proof-read. Calculate proof-reading
time into all your work. Don't just scan a page. Carefully read each sentence back to yourself.
If one does not sound right do something about it.
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The rule is: Use "an" before a word beginning with a vowel sound, however the word is
spelled.
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‘You and I?’ or ‘You and me?’ When do you use ‘I’ and ‘me’, ‘he’ and ‘him’, etc. The cheat
involves pretending "you and…" isn't there, and just instinctively knowing whether ‘I’ or ‘me’
sounds right.
Composition and effect
Level 3
Short series of ideas.
Coverage may be uneven/ unbalanced.
Style is not always convincing.
Use of informal language e.g. kids, stuff.
Not enough detail or description.
Level 4c Balanced/even coverage.
Some detail and explanation.
Style is convincing. Information given with some authority.
Use of formal language.
Level 4b- Ideas adapted for the audience.
4a
Use of questions to grab the readers attention.
Style is convincing and controlled.
Good level of detail, description and explanation.
Use of formal language and convincing tone.
Level 5 Interests the audience/reader.
Use of repetition for effect.
Vocabulary and tone mature and appropriate for the purpose.
Precise and thorough detail and description and explanation.
A simile is a figure of speech in which two quite unlike things are compared. A simile is often
introduced by like or as. Examples are "happy as a clam," "as easy as pie," and "soft as sifted flour."
It differs from a metaphor in that the comparison in a metaphor is a implicit: "Achilles is a lion,"
"She's a tiger," "He seems gruff but he's really just an old pussycat." The statement "that man is a
fox" is a metaphor; but "that man is like a fox" is a simile.
YEAR 6 SATS TIPS FOR ENGLISH -2
Spelling Tips
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The best method I have found to learn spellings is 'look, cover, write, check':Look at the word.
Cover it up.
Write it down.
Check if it is right.
Repeat this until you can confidently spell the word right.
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A good way to understand a word is to break it into syllables e.g: 'valentine' = 'val - en - tine'.
Look for prefixes, suffixes, and roots. Practice each short part and then the whole word.
dis-ap-pear-ing
tra-di-tion-al
After you break apart a word, ask yourself: How is this word like other words I know? Spelling
the word traditional may make you think of spelling functional and national. Finding patterns
among words is one of the best ways to learn spelling.

Have you heard the expression "When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking?"
This means that when there are two vowels in a row, the first usually has a long sound and
the second is silent. That's why it's ‘team’, not ‘taem’; ‘coat’, not ‘caot’; and ‘wait’, not ‘wiat’.
Remembering this rule will help you to put vowels in the right order.

Here's another familiar spelling rule: "Silent e helps a vowel say its name." This means that
when a word ends with a vowel followed by a consonant and then silent e, the vowel has a
long sound. That's the difference between rate and rat, hide and hid, and cube and cub.

It's also helpful to try making up a funny memory aids. For example, do you have trouble
remembering which has two s's—desert (arid land) or dessert (a sweet treat)? Remember
that with dessert, you'd like seconds. Similarly, do you have trouble remembering how to
spell separate? Remember that there's a rat in the middle.
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‘It's’ is a contraction of ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.
‘Let's’ is a contraction for "let us."
‘You're’ is a contraction of "you are": "You're doing fine."
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‘They're’ is a contraction for "they are,"
‘There’ is a word referring to a place: "Your umbrella is over there."
‘Their’ and ‘your’ mean "belonging to them" and "belonging to you," e.g. "their problem," "your
idea."
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This may be the best-known spelling rule: i before e, except after c or when sounded like "ay"
as in neighbour and weigh. Here are some words that follow the rule:
IE words: believe, field, relief
CEI words: ceiling, deceit, receive
EI words: freight, reign, sleigh
Some exceptions: either, foreign, height, leisure, protein, weird
"CIEN words" are another exception to the rule. These include ancient, efficient, and science.

Make sure that you are pronouncing words correctly. This can help you to avoid some
common spelling errors, such as canidate instead of candidate, jewelery instead of jewellery,
and libary instead of library.

Remember some words that sound the same have a 'c' and others have an 's' - the a noun
always has the 'c' and the verb the 's. e.g My advice is to run a way.- noun and I advise you
to run away- verb.

Remember the spelling of accommodation, - Cheerful Charlie and Mad Mary share
accommodation (two 'cc' and two 'mm').

Remember the spelling of necessary - it is necessary for a shirt to have one collar and two
sleeves (one 'c' and two 'ss')

The letter 'u' can often confuse you when you are spelling a word. To help you to remember
the spelling of such words, say them to yourself as they are spelt when you write them.
e.g oven is not spelt uven
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‘Lie’ is what you do when you lie down on the bed, ‘lay’ is what you do to another object that
you lay on the table.
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‘Too’ means also, ‘two’ is a number, ‘to’ is a preposition.

A ‘breath’ is a noun, what you take. ‘Breathe’ is a verb, the action you do when taking a
breath.
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You wear clothes. When you put them on, you clothe yourself. They are made of cloth.

Forming an acronym is a good strategy to use to remember information in any order that can
be remembered. An acronym is a word that is formed from the first letter of each fact to be
remembered. It can be a real word or a nonsense word you are able to pronounce.
"q" is always written as "qu". It never stands by itself.
e.g. quick, queen, quarrel.
We double "l, f, and s" after a single short vowel at the end of a word.
e.g. call, tall, toss, miss, stiff, stuff.
Exceptions: us, bus, gas, if, of, this, yes, plus, nil, pal.
Regular plurals are made by adding "s".
e.g. animals, horses, monkeys, and cliffs.
The sound of "ee" on the end of a word is nearly always "y".
Exceptions: committee and coffee.
"y" and not "i" is used at the end of an English word and is usually pronounced as a short "i".
Exceptions: macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli (Italian), and taxi (short for taxicab).
A silent "e" on the end of a word makes the vowel in front say its own alphabetic name.
e.g. hate, ride, cube, bake, shire, mare, lobe.
Exceptions: done, come, some, give and have.
"ck" may only be used after a single vowel that does not say its name at the end of a syllable or
root word.
e.g. track, pick, rocket, wreckage.
To form plurals of words with a hissing ending, add "es".
i.e.after "s, x, z, sh, and ch".
e.g. buses, foxes, buzzes, wishes and churches.
Words ending in an "o" preceded by a consonant usually add "es" to form the plural.
e.g. potatoes, volcanoes.
Exceptions: pianos, solos, Eskimos
Nouns ending in a single "f" change the "f" to a "v" before adding "es" to form the plural.
e.g. leaf – leaves; wolf – wolves.
Exceptions: dwarfs, roofs, chiefs.
If a word ends in a consonant plus "y", change the "y" to and "i", before adding any ending.
Except: "ing".
e.g.
party – parties;
heavy – heaviness
marry – married;
funny – funnily
carry – carriage;
pretty – prettier
but;
cry – crying;
hurry – hurrying
When "w" comes before "or" it often says "wer" as "worm".
e.g. worship, worst, worth, work.
Exceptions: worry, worried, wore.
Words ending in both a single vowel and a single consonant always double the last consonant
before adding an ending.
e.g. stop, stopped, stopping.
flat, flatter, flattest.
swim, swimmer, swimming.
Exceptions: fix, box, fox, mix.
"x" is the same as "ck"; that is it counts as a double consonant ending.
When "c" is followed by "e", "i" or "y", it says "s". Otherwise it says "k".
e.g. centre, ceiling, circle, cycle.
cottage, cave, cream, curious, clever.
When "g" is followed by "i", "e" or "y", it says "j". Otherwise it says "g" as in gold.
e.g. gentle, giant, gymnastic.
gallon, gold, guide, glass, grow.
Exceptions: get, got, begin, girl, give, gear, geese, gift, girth, geyser, giddy.
Drop the final "e" from a root word before adding an ending beginning with a vowel, but keep it
before a consonant.
e.g. love, loving, lovely.
drive, driving, driver.
settle, settled, settling.
grace, graceful.
"ti", "ci" and "si" are three spellings most frequently used to say "sh" at the beginning of all
syllables except the first.
e.g. national, patient, palatial, infectious.
gracious, ancient, musician, fiancial.
session, admission, mansion, division.
Exceptions: "ship" as a suffix, e.g. "worship".
"i" comes before "e" when it is pronounced "ee", except when it follows "c" – or when sounding
like "a" as in "neighbour, or weigh".
e.g. brief, field, priest.
receive, deceive, ceiling.
Exceptions: neither, foreign, sovereign, seized, counterfeit, forfeited, leisure.
"all" and "well" followed by another syllable only have one "l".
e.g. also, already, although, welcome, welfare.
"full" and "till" joined to another root syllable, drop one "l".
e.g. useful, cheerful, until.
Almost no English words end in "v" and none in "j".
Since publishing this page on the Web, Alistair Ewan of the University of East Anglia has
reminded us of the word "spiv".
For words ending in a single "l" after a single vowel, double the "l" before adding a suffix,
regardless of accent.
e.g. cancelled, traveller, signalling, metallic.
If a word of more than one syllable ends in a "t", preceded by a single vowel, and has the accent
on the last syllable, then double the final consonant.
e.g. permit; permitted.
admit; admitted.
regret; regretted.
But, if the accent is on the first syllable, don’t double the "t".
e.g. visit; visited.
benefit; benefited
"ous" at the end of a word often means "full of".
e.g. famous: full of fame.
glorious; full of glory.
gracious, ridiculous, furious, dangerous.
"al" at the end of a word often means "to do with".
e.g. musical:to do with music.
criminal:to do with crime.
historical:to do with history.
"er" or "or" endings. The most common everyday words end in "er".
e.g. baker, painter, teacher.
If in doubt, use "or", when the meaning of the word is "one who" or "that which".
e.g. author, director, instructor, indicator, conveyor, escalator.
"ery" or "ary" endings. Words ending in "ery" are often obvious.
e.g. very, brewery, flattery, bakery, nursery.
If in doubt, use "ary".
e.g. dictionary, secretary, commentary, stationary.
Seven words ending in "ery" that might cause trouble.
e.g. distillery, confectionery, millinery, cemetery, dysentery, monastery, stationery
(paper).
"ise", "ize" or "yse" endings. Most of these words end in "ise".
e.g. sunrise, surprise, supervise, exercise, disguise, unwise, surmise, advertise.
Only two common words end in "yse".
i.e. analyse and paralyse.
Only two common words end in "ize".
i.e. prize and capsize.
"ceed", "sede" and "cede".
Three "ceed" words; succeed, exceed, proceed.
One "sede" word; supersede.
All others "cede"
e.g.intercede, antecede, precede.
"able" or "ible" endings.
Use "able":
After root words.
e.g. available, dependable.
After root words ending in "e".
e.g. desirable, believable, usable (drop the "e").
After "i".
e.g. reliable, sociable.
When other forms of the root word have a dominant "a" vowel.
e.g. irritable, durable, abominable.
After a hard "c" or "g".
e.g. educable, practicable, navigable.
Exceptions: formidable, inevitable, memorable, probable, portable, indomitable,
insuperable.
Use "ible"
After non-root words.
e.g. audible, horrible, possible.
When the root has an immediate "ion"form.
e.g. digestible, suggestible, convertible.
After a root ending in "ns" or "miss".
e.g. responsible, comprehensible, permissible.
After a soft "c" or "g".
e.g. legible, negligible, forcible, invincible.
Exceptions: contemptible, resistible, collapsible, flexible.

Put together a list of words that you find difficult to spell. Go over your old papers and
spelling exams to track down these troublemakers. Once you've got your list in hand, see if
some of the tips above will help you.