Are you making the most of your KS2 SATs Results?

SATs outcomes are a measure, not a verdict.

They don’t see your school, your community.

The published figures are data points in time that prompt questions to drive your school forward?

• Are your results in line with internal tracking?
• Did the cohort include a significant number of SEND or EAL pupils?
• How did other cohorts perform?
• Were different topics taught differently?

But you need to look deeper to find the real truths hidden inside.

As one headteacher said..

“Do an in-depth analysis – cohort context, subject breakdowns, question-level analysis, and internal tracking vs outcomes… and you’ll find some good news in there. ”

Confidence and Evidence for Ofsted

When KS2 SATs results arrive, most schools naturally focus on the headline figures: Expected Standard, Greater Depth, Progress Measures, School Comparisons etc. These measures matter. But they’re only the starting point. The real opportunity lies in understanding why pupils performed the way they did and what those results tell us about curriculum effectiveness, teaching, learning and future priorities.

Inspectors aren’t looking for rehearsed answers or educational buzzwords. They’re looking for confident leaders who understand their school and can evidence the decisions they’ve made. For example, rather than saying:

“We’ve invested in more reasoning opportunities in maths.”

Schools can say:

“Our KS2 SATs QLA highlighted a trend in multi-step reasoning questions. We adapted our curriculum, increased explicit reasoning opportunities and are now monitoring improvement through ongoing assessment.”

One statement explains what you’ve done. The other provides evidence of why….

Did you know Your KS2 SATs Results are made available every year by the DfE – broken down to each individual question?

It provides a validated overview of your school curriculum and how successfully you guided your Year 6 to achieve their potential.

By looking back at how your full Year 6 cohort performed, you may be able to see gaps that surely suggest more about how they were taught than it was the same error across all 30 students. Or more importantly, it can provide the keys to unlock your teaching and raise attainment across your school for many years to come…

and yet, so many schools simply do not use this resource even though it is free and easy to download!!

The Real Value of KS2 SATs

For many schools, KS2 SATs mark the end of a journey. But they can also be the beginning of an even more valuable one. When analysed in detail, SATs results become more than performance data.

They become:

•  Evidence of curriculum impact
•  A foundation for school improvement
•  A tool for meaningful case sampling
•  Insight into misconceptions and learning gaps
•  Support for SEF and SDP development
•  A powerful source of evidence during inspection

Most importantly, they help schools transform numbers into narratives.

Schools introduce new initiatives all the time. Interventions, curriculum changes, staff training and targeted support programmes are all important.

The most important part here though is not the new activity but why did you did it?

And then, secondly (as one of the most common questions asked by inspectors proves…):

“What difference has it made?”

Confidence comes from Understanding

The schools that feel most confident when Ofsted arrives aren’t necessarily the schools with the highest results.

They’re the schools that understand their results best.

• They know where pupils excelled.
• They know where pupils struggled.
• They know why outcomes look the way they do.
• They know what they’ve changed.

And they can evidence the impact of those changes.

Strong leaders know their percentages. Exceptional leaders understand the narrative that sits behind them.

Question Level Analysis

Question Level Analysis (or QLA) breaks assessment data down into meaningful insight – looking instead at topics or cohorts rather than individual answers. Through this aggregation, schools can identify patterns that may not be immediately visible through headline figures alone.

• Perhaps pupils performed well in arithmetic but struggled with mathematical reasoning.
• Perhaps reading outcomes reveal challenges around inference and vocabulary.
• Perhaps a specific curriculum area repeatedly emerges as a weakness across multiple cohorts.

These insights help leaders answer the questions inspectors are increasingly interested in:

• Why do outcomes look like this?
• How has your curriculum influenced them?
• What have you learned?
• What are you doing about it?

By digging deep, could you find the “1%” to change your school?

And that is where we come in..

That is where we come in..

“After showing our Executive Headteacher the quality of the analysis you have provided, she has asked me to let you know how impressed we are with the analysis, including the speed we received it. We could never have achieved the same depth of analysis with the equivalent cost of staff time.“

Assistant Headteacher, Sheffield

QLA Results

Our QLA Results takes the raw data from the DfE – sent in to us by schools across the country – and aggregates it for you in a easy-to-read PDF report sent directly back to your inbox.

By analysing trends across topics, cohorts and curriculum areas, we reveal the patterns that matter most and highlight the opportunities your school may be missing. Helping you move from Numbers to Narrative.

•  We go beyond right and wrong answers
•  We expose trends across topics, cohorts and curriculum areas
•  We pinpoint exactly where progress is stalling — and why

We provide leaders with the clarity and evidence they need to take focused, high‑impact action. All your results are explained in plain English and shown through graphs and tables. In fact, Headteachers, Governors and School Improvement Advisors have all praised our reports as being “Accessible to all”, “Time saving” and “Outstanding Best Value!”.

Our Detailed Analysis includes..

A Full Summary

A clear starting point – focussing in on the headlines and points for you to focus on as the deeper analysis continues. For example, did you know that 85% of the total possible marks usually come from a small number of topics?

Topic Insight

We divide up the questions into bespoke Topics. Deep Dive into each subject to see where teaching could be improved and implement changes to your curriculum. Even small changes can significantly improve school results.

Type of Question

Is there one particular question type which is a problem to your pupils? Update your curriculum to include more practice and instruction in areas where pupils struggle or more challenge in areas where pupils excel.

Analysis of every Cohort

We break the results down into your various cohorts – gender, disadvantaged, SEN, EAL and more. Focus on different cohorts across your school to find areas where you can make changes that could make a substantial difference.

Individual Pupil Profiles

Our pupil profiles allow you to see where marks were lost and gained band provides detailed evidence to help guide your search for improvements across the school.

Does our Analysis Work?

There are many schools who have bought and used QLA Results over the past 15 years. Many of whom returned year after year wanting the analysis over and over again as they can see the benefits it has brought to their school improvement journey. You can read their feedback by clicking here.

80% of schools who used DAISI QLA consistently over three years have seen an increase in their attainment.

By embracing the 1% Principle, schools created a culture of continuous improvement, where every small step contributes to significant, long-term success. These small changes can help create a more dynamic, supportive, and efficient school environment.

The 1% Principal (or how to change your school)

Implementing the 1% principle in your school is all about making small, consistent changes that add up to big results. At its core, it is about the cumulative effect of incremental improvements – a journey of a thousand miles, but by one step at a time.

• A focus on explaining inferences will change outcomes one year later.
• Whole school literacy programmes will change outcomes two years later.
• CPD to challenge the teaching of algebra that will change outcomes three years later.

Small steps can be found that will make a huge impact in your school. The principle is based around lots of small changes that make a larger difference over a period of time. The key is integrating these insights into school improvement plans to ensure that the benefits are felt not just in individual classrooms but across the entire school.

You can read about one in our Case Study – How QLA helped to improve our results.

“We find the Question Level Analysis from DAISI invaluable at Seely Primary and Nursery School. In my role as deputy headteacher of a big school as well as assessment coordinator, there is no way I would have the time or capacity to complete QLA to the level and in the detail that the DAISI team do. They saved me days of work and the information this gives me allows us to develop whole school targets that we can show improved the attainment of our pupils.”

Deputy Headteacher, Nottingham

“Thank you ever so much for the QLA reports & the subsequent updates. The service we have received from yourselves & the attention to detail have been fantastic. We have found the reports to be incredibly useful & they are helping us to shape our school improvement priorities for the coming year.”

Headteacher, Holy Trinity CE Junior School, Ripon

DAISI Education

Thank you for reading this article.

Find out how we can help your school:  Primary  |  Secondary

Find other Blog articles by clicking below…

• From Numbers to Narrative – Find the Story for Ofsted
• From Assessment to Action – Turn Data into Insight
• The Best Schools Don’t Just Collect Data. They Use It.
• The 1% Principal
• Never Stop Learning
• Release the Potential of Analysis
• What do you find in a DAISI QLA?
• QLA – So much more that Exam Prep
• How can you sustain progress from Primary School?
• What will Ofsted Inspections look like in your school?