Key Stage 2 SATs are the first major assessment most children face, and for Sherborne families they carry real weight. SATs results influence secondary school setting, and in some areas they affect school placement. Our dedicated educators prepare Year 5 and Year 6 students for all four papers — arithmetic, mathematical reasoning (Papers 2 and 3), reading, and grammar, punctuation and spelling — building confidence alongside capability.
Support for Your Child
If your young learner in Sherborne is approaching SATs, we can help them feel ready. Write to us to discuss where they are now and what support would make the most difference.
Number Skills
The arithmetic paper tests calculation skills: long multiplication, long division, fractions, decimals, and percentages. There's no room for reasoning here — it's about speed and accuracy. Our dedicated educators in Sherborne build these skills through regular practice, focusing on the methods children are expected to use and the common errors that cost marks. Fluent arithmetic is also the foundation for the two reasoning papers, so time spent here pays off twice.
When to Start
Starting in Year 5 gives the most time to fill gaps — particularly in maths, where foundational weaknesses can be hard to fix quickly. Year 6 preparation then focuses on applying those skills under test conditions. For Sherborne families who come to us in Year 6, we can still make a significant difference by targeting the topics most likely to appear and building exam technique rapidly. But earlier is always better, especially for children who find reading or maths genuinely difficult.
The GPS Test
The GPS paper tests grammar terminology (subordinate clauses, modal verbs, relative pronouns) alongside spelling and punctuation. It's often the paper that children in Sherborne find most unfamiliar, because the metalanguage can be confusing. Our dedicated educators teach this vocabulary explicitly, using examples and practice questions to make abstract concepts concrete. Spelling lists are practised regularly, and common patterns are taught systematically.
How We Track Improvement
Parents in Sherborne should be able to see tangible evidence that tutoring is working. After each block of work, the tutor provides a brief update on what was covered, how the learner responded, and what comes next. For exam-level pupils, we track scores on topic tests and timed papers, giving a concrete picture of improvement — not vague reassurances. If progress stalls, we adjust the approach rather than repeating what is not working.
Working Around Your Schedule
Scheduling needs to work for the whole family. In Sherborne, we offer morning, afternoon, evening, and weekend availability to fit around school, sport, and family commitments. Whether the preference is a fixed weekly slot or a more adaptable arrangement, we accommodate it. During busier periods — mock exam season, for instance — many families increase frequency before scaling back again.
Reading Skills
The reading paper presents three texts of increasing difficulty and asks questions that test retrieval, inference, vocabulary, and summary. Many Sherborne children find the final text challenging — it's often a pre-1900 extract or a piece of non-fiction with unfamiliar language. Our dedicated educators prepare students by practising with real SATs papers and teaching strategies for each question type: how to find evidence, how to explain an author's word choice, how to summarise a paragraph concisely.