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Year 6 · SATs preparation · SPaG

Year 6 spelling test and practice sheet maker

Make a spelling test in the style of Paper 2 of the SATs: a sentence with a missing word, read aloud by the teacher, starting with easy words and ending with harder ones, just like the real test. Or make a practice sheet to learn the words, with space to look, cover, write and check. The words and sentences come from past KS2 tests, mixed up into a new test each time, as editable Word files.

1 Choose the spelling patterns

Each pattern is one that the SATs spelling test asks about. The number beside it is how many past test words use it. Tick them all for a test like the real one, or only the ones your class needs.

Tick at least one spelling pattern

2 Options
Make
The real test has 20.
Order
Words from

Before you tick “Older tests”: the 2013 to 2015 tests were set for levels 3 to 5. Most of their words are easier than today’s, and they have no official spelling pattern, so those words are listed under “Other words from the older tests”. Leave the box unticked for words that match today’s test.

The same ticks and code always make the same test.

About these tests

Every word and sentence comes from Paper 2 of the key stage 2 spelling tests: 180 words from the tests of 2016 to 2025 (including the 2016 sample test), and 80 more from the 2013 to 2015 tests if you tick “Older tests”. Each word keeps its own sentence, so nothing is made up. What changes is the mix: a new test picks words from all the years and puts them in order from easy to hard. We use where the word came in its own test (the real tests put the easiest words first) and how long the word is to judge how hard it is, and we try not to use the same spelling pattern twice in a row. The patterns are the official ones from the test framework.

The teacher’s sheet has a short script (say the number, read the sentence, say the word, read the sentence again), the answers, and a marking grid. For real SATs-style practice, give the test without letting pupils see the words, and allow about twelve seconds for each.

For the real tests as printed, see SPaG SATs past questions, which can also add spelling words to a sheet. For grammar and punctuation, see the generated SPaG SATs questions.

Sentences and words © Crown copyright (Standards and Testing Agency). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This site is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Standards and Testing Agency or the Department for Education.