KS2 SATs tutors for targeted Year 6 practice

The tested areas are English reading, English grammar, punctuation and spelling, and mathematics. Writing and science are assessed by teachers. A child may read fluently but struggle to explain an inference, or calculate accurately but be unsure which operation a problem needs. Name that difficulty when looking for a tutor. For an overview of the assessments, decisions about extra support and questions to ask the school, use the parent’s SATs guide.

Here is an illustrative practice problem: a one-litre jug contains 3/4 litre of water. You add 1/8 litre. How much water is in the jug, and how much space remains?

A child might add both top and bottom numbers and write 4/12. That changes the size of the pieces being counted. The denominator, the bottom number, tells us how many equal parts make a whole. Quarters and eighths need a common size before we add them.

Each quarter is two eighths, so 3/4 = 6/8. Now add 6/8 + 1/8 = 7/8 litre. A full jug is 8/8 litre, leaving 1/8 litre of space. A drawing of a jug divided into eight equal parts makes both answers visible. The amount must be greater than 3/4 litre because we added water; 4/12 would fail that check.

For a follow-up, change the starting amount to 1/2 litre and add 1/4 litre. The answer is 3/4 litre, with 1/4 litre remaining. A useful sign of progress is that your child can explain the equal-sized parts and the remaining capacity without copying the first calculation.

An inference is an idea we work out from clues in a text. Consider this invented passage:

Maya paused outside the hall. She gripped her bag tightly and whispered the first line of her speech once more.

If asked how Maya might be feeling, “nervous” is a plausible starting point. A fuller response is: “Maya seems nervous because she grips her bag tightly and practises the opening of her speech again.” It connects the feeling to details we can actually read. “She has forgotten all her words” goes beyond the evidence: the passage does not tell us that.

A tutor can separate two difficulties here: understanding words such as “gripped”, and using those words to support an interpretation. Discuss the vocabulary first if needed, then let the child choose the evidence rather than supplying it for them.

Now add this sentence: “After her final sentence, Maya lowered her shoulders and smiled.” Ask what may have changed. “She may feel relieved now; her shoulders relax and she smiles” is one supported interpretation. These are teaching examples, rather than answers from an official test mark scheme.

For an example of a KS2 skill worth revisiting, start with “The dogs bowls were empty.” We need to know whether the bowls belong to one dog or several dogs before placing the apostrophe.

For one dog, write “The dog’s bowls were empty.” Add an apostrophe and s to the singular owner, dog. For several dogs, write “The dogs’ bowls were empty.” Dogs is already a plural ending in s, so the apostrophe comes after that s. The apostrophe shows possession; it does not make the word plural.

Then try “the childrens coats”. Children is already plural and does not end in s, so the correct version is “the children’s coats”. This checks whether the child understands the owner, rather than memorising “put the apostrophe after s”.

For Year 6 preparation, move from choosing the correct version to writing a fresh sentence independently. For spelling, try “Their dogs are over there.” Their shows belonging; there names a place. These words sound alike, so the child needs to use meaning to choose the spelling, not rely on sound alone.

Each tutor sets their own hourly rate, shown on their profile. Latimer invoices for lessons after they take place on a pay-as-you-go basis. Compare the cost of the lesson length and frequency you are considering, and ask what preparation, practice and feedback the tutor will provide.