SATs arithmetic paper: free practice for Year 6

How the SATs arithmetic paper works

The SATs arithmetic paper is paper 1 of the KS2 maths SATs. In 2027, Year 6 children take it on Wednesday 12 May, on the same day as paper 2, the first reasoning paper. It lasts 30 minutes and is worth 40 marks, out of 110 for all three maths papers.

Every question is a calculation on its own, with no words, pictures or real-life stories. The 2024 and 2025 papers each had 36 questions. They start with quick calculations that can be done in the head and get gradually harder, ending with written methods and fractions. Children write each answer in a box, and there's space on the page for working out. Calculators aren't allowed: children need a pen or dark pencil, a ruler and, if they like, a rubber.

Our practice papers follow the same format: 36 questions, 40 marks, easiest first, with the 30-minute timer or no timer at all.

What's in a SATs arithmetic paper?

The arithmetic paper tests calculation from the KS2 curriculum, and some from Years 1 and 2. Each Mathsley paper has a mix of these:

• Mental calculations with whole numbers, like 4,600 + 300 and 72 ÷ 9, and multiplying and dividing by 10, 100 and 1,000.
• Column addition and column subtraction with numbers up to 100,000.
• Short multiplication, short division, long multiplication and long division.
• Missing number questions, where the box is in the middle of the calculation.
• Square numbers and cube numbers, like 7² and 3³, and the order of operations, including brackets.
• Decimals: adding, subtracting, and multiplying and dividing by whole numbers.
• Adding and subtracting fractions, including mixed numbers, multiplying fractions and dividing fractions by whole numbers.
• Fractions of amounts and percentages of amounts, like ³⁄₄ of 240 and 15% of 60.

Not every type comes up in every official paper, but these are the calculations Year 6 children are expected to be able to do.

How is the SATs arithmetic paper marked?

Most questions are worth 1 mark. Long multiplication and long division are worth 2 marks each: there are two of each on our papers, as there were on the 2024 and 2025 papers. In the real test, a child who uses the formal written method but gets the final answer wrong can still get 1 of the 2 marks. That mark isn't given for the grid method or for chunking, so it's worth getting the formal methods secure.

On screen, our papers mark the answer only. A right answer to a 2-mark question gets both marks, but we can't see the working, so check it on paper too. The score is a raw mark out of 40. It isn't a scaled score, and it says nothing about the result your child will get in May.

For fraction questions, any equivalent fraction is marked right, so ⁶⁄₈ counts for ³⁄₄. So is a mixed number like 1 ³⁄₈, as long as the fraction part is less than 1, and an exact decimal like 1.375. A rounded decimal like 1.38 is marked wrong. For the official rules, read the mark schemes on GOV.UK.

Common mistakes in the arithmetic paper

• Digits in the wrong column. In column methods, ones go under ones and tens under tens. With decimals, the decimal points line up: 4.5 + 2.75 is 4.50 + 2.75, which makes 7.25.
• Doing it left to right. In 40 − 4 × 6, the multiplication comes first, so the answer is 16, not 216.
• Adding the denominators. ¹⁄₂ + ¹⁄₄ isn't ²⁄₆. Change ¹⁄₂ to ²⁄₄ first, then add the numerators: the answer is ³⁄₄.
• Squared means times itself. 6² is 6 × 6, which is 36, not 6 × 2.
• Missing number questions. Use the inverse: if the box plus 375 makes 1,000, the box is 1,000 − 375, which is 625.

How to practise for the SATs arithmetic paper at home

• Keep the times tables sharp. Almost every question leans on them. Quick practice with the times tables helps more than you might think.
• Start without the timer. Do a paper with no timer and work on accuracy first. Bring in the 30 minutes once the methods feel secure.
• Work on paper. Even when the answers go in on screen, set out the long multiplication and long division in full, as in the real test.
• Look at the wrong answers together. After each paper, pick one or two questions to go over, using the explainer linked next to each one. A few calm minutes is enough.
• Little and often. Ten questions a day does more than one long session a week. Print a paper and cut it into strips if a whole one is too much.
• Check with the school. Your child's teacher knows which methods they're taught and what to focus on before May.

SATs arithmetic papers from previous years

The Standards and Testing Agency publishes the real papers and mark schemes from previous years on GOV.UK: the 2024 maths test materials, the 2025 maths test materials and the 2026 maths test materials. Each set includes the arithmetic paper and its mark scheme.

The papers on this page are different. Every question is written by Mathsley's own generators, and none is copied from or based on an official paper. They aren't official, and they aren't connected to the Standards and Testing Agency or the Department for Education. Because each paper is new, your child can keep practising without learning the answers by heart.