Key stage 1 SATs replacement in place from September

All new primary school pupils will take the new reception baseline assessment (RBA) that will replace SATs in year 2 from September.

The RBA is a one-to-one exercise done in 20 minutes with a teacher in an informal setting and will be taken by all children in their first six weeks of primary school.

This will be instead of the national curriculum assessments at the end of key stage 1 from 2022/23 (SATs), when pupils are aged six- or seven-years-old.

It comes after a validity report based on a national pilot confirmed that the new assessments provide an accurate assessment of a pupils’ starting point from which to measure the progress they make in primary school.

A new report analysing the effectiveness of the RBA found the assessment is representative of a range of literacy, communication, language and mathematics skills and knowledge appropriate to the age and development of children at the start of reception.

It also found that assessment results provide a fair and accurate measure of pupil performance – including for those with special educational needs and disabilities.

The reception baseline assessment has been designed to reflect the types of assessment that most schools already carry out in reception and does not have a pass mark.

Children will be assessed orally through simple, practical tasks which could include counting or describing pictures, reflecting the types of activities which many parents already do with their children at home. There is no need for teachers or parents to prepare pupils for the assessment.