SATs - Kids' Views


	[ Key Stage 1 ] [ Key Stage 2 ] [ Key Stage 3 ] What do children think about SATs? How does testing make them feel? Below are the reactions of a small cross-section of youngsters who have taken the tests recently. Naturally, perhaps, in these comments, children indicate a degree of concern about how they will perform. There is also a number of references to the format of the tests and whether or not children felt prepared.
Key Stage 1	I was worried about them before the tests. I didn't want my school to be the worst. I had to do a story and I couldn't think of anything to write. It seemed much easier when we were practising. The answer line was really big and I was frightened that I wouldn't write enough to fill it. I was glad when it was over. My friend said that if we failed the test we would have to go down a class but I didn't believe her.
Key Stage 2	There was a lot to read in the English test so I didn't have time to finish but the spelling and handwriting were easy. I thought I did all right in Maths but when my brother did the tests last year he hadn't done as well as he thought. One or two of the questions in Maths were quite hard, especially the ones with grids and tables, but most of the others were OK. Sometimes I didn't understand the question in the Maths and Science Tests - I think it was because I didn't always understand the words that were used. I enjoyed writing the story because I knew what to do. We had practised writing timed stories in class during the year and that had helped. I thought a lot of the Science questions were just common sense. I didn't finish all the tests because I ran out of time. The time seemed to pass so quickly. I felt tired by the end of the week because I had really had to concentrate - but the tests were spaced out so it wasn't too bad.
Key Stage 3	I felt I could revise for Maths and Science but was unsure what to revise for English. I wasn't worried about taking the tests but when I came to do them, they felt more like real tests than the normal school exams. They were good practice and experience for when I come to do my GCSE's in two years time. The English paper was more about opinions than what you had covered in class. I though it was hard to learn about Shakespeare in Year 9 but I enjoyed it because it was something different. The language of Shakespeare was difficult to understand at first. I enjoyed the play Romeo and Juliet because you could relate to what was happening. The Maths paper was quite easy. It just tested you on what had been covered in class. I know I made more mistakes on the easy questions in Maths because I felt I knew how to do them without thinking. I concentrated more on the harder questions. I entered for the 5 - 7 Maths paper because I didn't really understand the levels but when I came to do the paper I felt I could have managed the 6 - 8 level. The Science paper was the most demanding of the three and the hardest to revise for. The Science was quite difficult because there is so much to cover in this subject. It's like three subjects in one. The Science paper tested us on everything we had covered.

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	Last modified on: Friday, May 15, 1998.