Practice papers matter less than knowing exactly where the real gaps are. A calmer, more effective approach.
25 August 2026 · 5 min read
SATs preparation has a reputation for turning the last few months of Year 6 into a grind of practice papers, and that reputation is largely earned — but it doesn't have to be the only approach. A more targeted, less exhausting version tends to produce better results with far less tension at home.
Working through complete past papers has a place, but doing them repeatedly without reviewing why specific questions were wrong mostly just repeats whatever gaps already exist, over and over, without closing them. A child who's shaky on ratio will get ratio questions wrong on every paper attempted, no matter how many papers get done, unless something changes about how ratio specifically is being taught in between.
Before committing to months of past papers, it's worth working out which specific topics genuinely need attention — long division, fractions with different denominators, ratio, algebra, or reasoning about worded problems specifically. That's a much smaller, more manageable list than "the entire Year 6 curriculum," and it makes the remaining preparation time far more productive. We've written more about identifying this kind of gap in how to tell if your child has gaps in maths.
Since the SATs papers themselves test these as genuinely different skills — see Year 6 SATs maths: what parents need to know — preparation benefits from the same split. A child who's fast and accurate on arithmetic but loses marks on worded reasoning problems needs practice unpacking multi-step questions, not more raw calculation drilling, which won't touch the actual issue.
Short, focused sessions most days — 20 to 30 minutes — tend to work better than occasional long sessions, for the same reasons that apply to any spaced practice: see why children forget maths they learned last year. It's also worth protecting some normal, unpressured time in the weeks leading up to the tests — a Year 6 child who's spent every evening for months solely on SATs prep often arrives at the actual test more anxious and burnt out than one who's had a more balanced run-up.
For plenty of children, the main obstacle to a good SATs result isn't missing knowledge — it's what happens when they hit a question they're not sure about under timed conditions. Practising what to do when stuck (skip it and come back, try a rough estimate, use a method even if unsure it's the fastest one) is worth as much preparation time as content review for a child who's prone to freezing up. We go into this in more depth in turning exam anxiety into confidence.
Find the specific gaps first. Split practice between calculation and reasoning. Keep sessions short and regular rather than long and occasional. Leave room for the rest of Year 6 to still feel like Year 6, not one long run-up to a test.
Grasp Maths identifies exactly which Year 6 skills need attention before recommending practice, and separates arithmetic fluency from reasoning practice — so SATs preparation targets what's actually missing, in far less time than working blindly through past papers.
Looking for printable practice too? See our Year 6 maths worksheets.
Try a free Grasp Maths practice session, matched to the Year 6 curriculum and SATs style.