When Do KS2 SATs Results Come Out? (And the One Date Schools Won't Tell You)

If you've Googled "when do KS2 SATs results come out", the short answer is a Tuesday in early July. That's when the Standards and Testing Agency releases results to schools.

Most parents stop reading at that line. The longer answer is more useful — because there are two other dates around it that matter, and one of them schools don't usually announce.

The official date

The STA sets one national release day each year and publishes it in its assessment timetable. It has landed on a Tuesday in early July for several cycles running: 7 July in 2026, 8 July in 2025. The exact 2027 date is not confirmed yet — the DfE usually publishes the full timetable in the autumn or winter before the tests. From that morning, schools can access results in their secure portal and start preparing the individual reports parents eventually see.

Important note: that's not the day you'll get the results. It's the day the school gets them.

When parents actually get them

This is where the variation kicks in. Different schools release results to parents on different days. The norm is the rest of that same week — but some schools wait until the end of term to send them home, and a small number include them in the end-of-year report a couple of weeks later.

You should expect, at minimum:

• A scaled score for each subject — reading, maths, GPS
• A spelling score — out of 20, from the spelling part of the GPS paper
• Whether your child reached the expected standard (a scaled score of 100 or above) in each subject
• Whether your child reached the higher standard (a scaled score around 110+ depending on the subject)

You won't typically receive: raw marks, the marked papers, or a breakdown by topic. More on how scaled scores work here.

The date schools don't usually mention

The third date — the one most parents never hear about — is the date your child's secondary school receives the results.

Secondary schools receive incoming Year 7s' SATs scores from the National Pupil Database in late June, usually about ten days before primary school publication. That means the school your child starts in September often already knows their SATs scores by the time you do.

How to read the results when they arrive

Three rules that save a lot of anguish:

1. The scaled score is not a percentage. A scaled score of 100 doesn't mean 100%. It means "exactly on the expected standard". The scoring is statistical, not absolute. A full guide on reading scaled scores here.

2. The expected standard is "100 or above", not "100 exactly". Anything from 100 to about 120 is at or above the expected standard. The higher standard usually kicks in around 110 — but this changes year to year because the scaling is recalibrated annually.

3. A score below 100 isn't a verdict. 38% of children don't meet the expected standard in the combined measure in any given year. That's roughly a quarter of a million children. National averages here. It's a starting position for Year 7, not a fixed label.

What to do on the day the results arrive

Whatever the result, the protocol is the same:

• Read the results privately first. Don't open the envelope in front of your child. Take a moment to absorb the numbers before you share them
• Decide your tone before you say anything. Whatever the numbers, the first thing you say lands hardest. "Look at this, you should be proud" beats "Hmm, let me see"
• Share the score with your child calmly. Don't compare to the friend down the road. Don't email the family WhatsApp group
• Don't make plans based on the result for at least 24 hours. The instinct to immediately "do something" about a low score, or "celebrate big" about a high one, both produce regret

The right response to a SATs score is the same response you'd want for your child: warm, proportionate, calm. The score is a number. Your child is a child. The two are not the same.

What the results don't tell you

• Whether your child is ready for secondary school. They are. They're 11. They will be ready
• What "set" they'll be in. That's decided by the secondary school using a basket of indicators — not just SATs
• What their GCSEs will look like. Strong KS2 correlates with GCSE outcomes, but it doesn't determine them. The chain is real but not deterministic
• How hard they tried, how much they grew, or who they're becoming. Those things aren't on the score sheet

One date for the diary

Watch for the STA's confirmed date and put it in the calendar when it lands. The schools get the results that morning. You'll get them in the days after. Stay calm. Don't refresh the inbox. They'll arrive when the school is ready to release them.