National key stage 2 SATs results show another slight increase in the proportion of pupils meeting the “expected” standard.

The data, published this morning, shows 62 per cent met the benchmark in reading, writing and maths, up from 61 per cent in 2024.

Results have been creeping back up after dropping to 59 per cent in post-pandemic 2022. However, the headline figure has still not reached its 2019 level of 65 per cent.

The data for individual subjects shows that…

• In reading, 75 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, up from 74 per cent in 2024.
• In maths, 74 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, up from 73 per cent in 2024.
• In writing, 72 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, an increase of 0.5 percentage points from 72 per cent (rounded) in 2024.
• In grammar, punctuation and spelling, 73 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, up from 72 per cent in 2024.
• In science, 82 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, up from 81 per cent in 2024.

190,000 pupils below the expected standard

The results show that just under three in 10 pupils at the end of key stage 2 were assessed as not meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined.

And 8.5 per cent of pupils were not assessed in all three of the subjects, “either because they were below the level of the assessment or for another reason”.

“This year 189,339 pupils were assessed as not meeting the expected standard, and since the pandemic over 800,000 pupils have not met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths following assessment,” the DfE said.

The department said 7.9 per cent of pupils were working below the level of assessment in at least one subject, and therefore did not take the test or teacher assessment.

This happens “where the school has deemed that the pupil is working below the overall standard of the assessments, such that a different assessment is required”.

But these pupils “could still be meeting the standard for some subjects”. 

Analysis shows 47 per cent of the pupils in this group “were only below the level of assessment in writing”.

Call for more ‘personalised’ assessments

Tiffnie Harris, primary specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was “good to see the continued improvement in the proportion of children reaching expected standards since the Covid-19 pandemic”.

But she said SATs were “demanding one-size-fits-all tests, and it would be better to move to a system of personalised assessments using the type of adaptive testing technology which is readily available. 

“This would allow questions to be tailored to the ability of the child and allow them to demonstrate what they know rather than feeling as though they are being judged on what they don’t know. We would like to see the government take steps to work with schools to plan and implement such a system.”