The proportion of Year 6 pupils reaching the expected standard in all three areas of reading, writing and maths has increased marginally, according to released today.
The Department for Education data shows increases compared with 2024 in all subjects, narrowing the gap to pre-pandemic levels.
Overall, 62 per cent of pupils taking this year’s key stage 2 Sats tests met the expected standard in all three areas, compared with 61 per cent last year.
This still lags behind the pre-pandemic figures of 65 per cent in 2019 and 64 per cent in 2018.
Improved KS2 Sats results
This year the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading attainment was 75 per cent - a one percentage point rise from last year.
The proportion meeting the expected standard in writing this year was 72 per cent. Last year it was also 72 per cent, but the data shows that the 2024 figure was rounded up, meaning this year’s result was actually 0.5 percentage points better. The 2025 figure remains six percentage points below pre-pandemic levels.
And the proportion of pupils reaching the expected standard in maths this year was 74 per cent, an increase from 73 per cent in 2024 but five percentage points down on pre-pandemic results.
In grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS), there was another one percentage point increase compared with last year, with 73 per cent of pupils met the expected standard in 2025. Although this also remains five percentage points below the 2019 and 2018 figures.
And in science, 82 per cent of pupils met the expected standard, up from 81 per cent last year.
This year’s Sats were the final series to be delivered by outsourcing firm Capita after it lost the contract. Pearson will run the tests from September 2025.
Pupils hitting the higher standard
The proportion of pupils meeting the higher standard in reading, writing and maths (combined) remained at 8 per cent, where it has been since the 2022-23 academic year.
In terms of specific subjects, only reading had a higher percentage of pupils meeting the higher standard than the pre-pandemic level - 33 per cent compared with 27 per cent. Last year’s figure was 29 per cent.
For GPS, just 30 per cent met the higher standard this year, down two percentage points from 2024 and 6 percentage points on the pre-pandemic level (36 per cent).
In maths, 26 per cent met the higher standard in 2025, up two percentage points from last year and almost back to the pre-pandemic level (27 per cent).
The proportion of pupils working at greater depth in the writing teacher assessment was just 13 per cent, the same as it has been since 2022 and some seven percentage points below the pre-pandemic level.
Rise in access arrangements
The results come after a more than fivefold increase in the use of transcribers for KS2 Sats, which has raised significant concerns about declining pupil handwriting, the impact of Covid-19 disruption and the susceptibility of the system to abuse.
The use of scribes has also increased by more than 170 per cent since 2018-19, while extra time is also on the rise with more than 129,000 applications for this special arrangement from schools this academic year (up from 103,655 in 2018-19).
Sats pass marks
The Department for Education also today published the for reaching the expected standard for KS2 reading, maths and grammar, punctuation and spelling (GPS) tests.
In maths the pass mark increased to 58 out of 110, compared with 54 in 2024. This followed a call earlier this year for an increase in the marks required to achieve the expected standard at KS2 and to rigorously test mental methods and problem solving.
This year’s KS2 maths reasoning paper was labelled “ironic” by some because of the inclusion of a question about the cost of school trips, despite funding pressures forcing many schools to cut such activities. The question led to a call from Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), for ministers to sit the paper.
The 2024 KS2 Sats maths reasoning paper was described as a “failure at a national level” by Mark McCourt, a leading figure in maths education.
In GPS, the pass threshold remained at 35 out of 70.
In the reading test, the threshold rose by one mark to 28 out of 50.
How are Sats scores generated?
Pupils’ Sats marks are converted from a raw score (the total number of marks that a pupil received from their Sats tests) to something called a
This means that the mark is processed to account for any variations in difficulty that have occurred between assessments year on year. This makes it possible to compare the performance of different cohorts of pupils across different years.
A scaled score of 100 or more means that the pupil has met the expected standard.
If a school believes that a pupil’s mark is incorrect or that there has been a clerical error, it can apply for a review of marking.
Calls for reform
Commenting on today’s KS2 Sats results, Tiffnie Harris, primary specialist at the ASCL, said: “It is good to see the continued improvement in the proportion of children reaching expected standards since the Covid-19 pandemic.”
However, she renewed the ASCL’s previous calls for reform of Sats.
“There is much debate about the pressure these tests can place on children… these are 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,” she said.
Ms Harris added: “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.”
Education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “It’s brilliant to see more children building the strong foundations in reading, writing and maths that will set them on a path to future success. It’s a testament to the hard work of teachers across the country who have tirelessly supported pupils to prepare for the assessments earlier this year.
“Yet despite our brilliant teachers, we still have over a third of children leaving school below the expected standard in one or more of these critical subjects, with writing in particular continuing to lag below pre-pandemic levels.”
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