Parents and carers of Year 2 children
KS1 SATs 2027: Are They Still Happening?
There are no compulsory KS1 SATs in 2027. The end-of-Year-2 tests in England stopped being statutory from the 2023 to 2024 school year; they still exist as optional papers, and a school that chooses to use them is advised to do so during May 2027. Whether your Year 2 child sits them is now the school's decision, not a national requirement.
Plenty of pages written before the change still describe KS1 SATs as compulsory, which is why the question keeps being asked. This page states the position as of 28 August 2026, names its source, and will be updated if the position changes.
What Year 2 children still do
- Teacher assessment continues: teachers judge each child's reading, writing, maths and science against the national frameworks through normal classwork.
- The phonics screening check has a Year 2 role: children who did not reach the threshold in Year 1 take it again in Year 2. The 2027 dates are on our phonics screening check page.
- Schools that opt in to the KS1 papers use them quietly, usually in May, often without children knowing they were tests.
If your school does use the optional papers, nothing is reported nationally and there is nothing to prepare for at home. If reading itself is the worry, start with the guide for a child struggling with reading in Year 2 rather than anything test-shaped, and the free Year 2 English topic pages cover the year's ground with no account needed.
Could KS1 SATs come back?
Primary assessment is periodically reviewed, and government reviews of the curriculum and assessment system can change what is statutory. Nothing currently published schedules a return of compulsory KS1 tests for 2027 or 2028. This page is re-verified against the Department for Education's published assessment dates before each school year; the status above is the current one, not a prediction.
The position for 2028
Unchanged: the Department for Education's published dates for the 2027 to 2028 school year again list the KS1 tests as optional, recommended for administration during May 2028.
Sources, verification and updates
Primary source: the Department for Education's primary assessments future dates page, which lists the optional KS1 tests alongside the statutory KS2 dates.
- Last verified: 28 August 2026, against the gov.uk future dates page.
- Next review: September 2027, at the start of the school year, or immediately if a government assessment review changes the KS1 position.
- Change log: 28 August 2026, page first published; optional status for 2027 and 2028 checked against gov.uk.
Frequently asked questions
Will my Year 2 child sit SATs in 2027?
Only if their school chooses to use the optional papers, and many do not. Ask the school directly; either answer is normal, and the results are for the school's own use rather than national reporting.
When did KS1 SATs stop being compulsory?
The last statutory KS1 tests were in 2023. From the 2023 to 2024 school year they became optional, and that remains the position for 2027 and 2028.
Do KS1 results affect secondary school places or anything later?
No. Even when the tests were statutory the results were not used for admissions, and the optional papers now carry no national reporting at all. The first statutory tests that follow a child are the KS2 SATs in Year 6; those dates are on our SATs dates 2027 page.
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