KS2 English Reading (SATs Practice)
The Key Stage 2 reading paper gives three texts of increasing difficulty in a separate booklet, with about an hour to read them and answer the questions. The texts are usually a mix of fiction, non-fiction and sometimes poetry. Questions are worth one, two or three marks, and the mark tariff is the clearest instruction on the paper: a one-mark question wants one piece of information, while a three-mark question wants three separate points or a point with evidence and explanation. The question types are consistent year to year: find and copy, tick the box, sequencing, meaning of a word in context, inference with evidence, and questions about why the writer chose particular words or how the text is organised.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Manage the hour deliberately: roughly a third of the time on each text and its questions, and do not spend so long reading the first text that the third one is rushed.
- Skim each text first for what it is about, then answer its questions, returning to the text for each one. Do not read all three texts before starting.
- Use the mark tariff as an instruction. One mark, one point; two marks, two points or a point plus evidence; three marks, three points or a fully explained answer with quotation.
- For find and copy questions, copy the words EXACTLY as they appear, and copy only the number of words asked for. Changing a word or adding your own loses the mark.
- For inference questions, use the formula point, evidence, explanation: say what you think, quote the words that show it, and say how those words show it.
- For questions about the writer's choice of words, say what the word makes the reader think or feel, rather than just saying it is descriptive or that it makes it more interesting.
Worked example
Read this extract: 'The old pier groaned as the tide pushed against it. Boards that had once been painted white were grey and splintered, and the ice-cream kiosk at the far end had been boarded up for years.' Question: How does the writer show that the pier has not been looked after? Give two pieces of evidence and explain each. (3 marks)
- Find the parts of the text that describe the pier's condition rather than its setting.
- First piece of evidence: the boards 'had once been painted white were grey and splintered'.
- Explain it: the phrase had once been shows the paint has not been renewed, and splintered shows the wood has been left to decay.
- Second piece of evidence: the kiosk 'had been boarded up for years'.
- Explain it: for years shows the neglect has lasted a long time and nobody has reopened or repaired it.
- Write the answer with both quotations and both explanations, which covers the three marks: two pieces of evidence with explanation earn the marks, while quoting without explaining would earn fewer.
Practice questions
Try each question, then tap to reveal the answer.
Q1A question is worth 3 marks. What does that tell you about your answer?Show answer
Answer: It needs three separate points, or a point supported by evidence and a clear explanation, not a one-line answer.
Q2What must you be careful about in a find and copy question?Show answer
Answer: Copy the words exactly as written and only as many words as the question asks for.
Q3Give the three parts of a good inference answer.Show answer
Answer: Point, evidence and explanation: what you think, the words from the text that show it, and how they show it.
Q4How long should you spend on each text in a one-hour paper with three texts?Show answer
Answer: About twenty minutes on each, including its questions, so that the last text is not rushed.
Q5A question asks what 'reluctantly' means in the text. How do you answer it?Show answer
Answer: Read the sentence around it and give the meaning that fits there, such as unwillingly, rather than a general definition.
Q6Why is 'it makes it more interesting' a weak answer about a writer's word choice?Show answer
Answer: It does not say what the word actually makes the reader picture, think or feel, which is what the mark is for.
Q7What should you do if you cannot find an answer quickly?Show answer
Answer: Move on and come back. Marks are spread across all three texts, so time spent stuck on one question can cost several marks later.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a KS1 and KS2 SATs exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Read this extract: 'Nadia checked the harness twice, then a third time. Below her, the canopy of the forest swayed like green water. She had done this jump a hundred times, but her hands still would not keep still.' (a) Find and copy one word that shows Nadia was experienced. (1 mark) (b) How does the writer show that Nadia was nervous? Use evidence from the text. (3 marks)
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Using the same extract, explain what the comparison 'the canopy of the forest swayed like green water' suggests about what Nadia could see.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 2 available
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the ks2 english reading (sats practice) worksheet pack - 11 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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