2026 KS2 Reading SATs: What teachers told us about this year’s paper
Following the 2026 KS2 Reading SATs, Daisy Education surveyed teachers across UK primary schools to understand how this year’s paper was experienced by pupils and staff.
We asked schools about:
- Overall difficulty
- Reading stamina
- Fluency and comprehension
- Vocabulary demands
- Pupil confidence
- Text accessibility
- And how the paper compares with previous years.
The responses revealed several clear national themes, particularly around reading fluency, stamina, and the growing gap between pupils who can decode accurately and those who can process increasingly demanding texts independently under timed conditions.
Key themes emerging from schools
One of the clearest messages from teachers was that accurate decoding alone is no longer enough for success in KS2 reading assessments.
Several respondents highlighted pupils who could technically read the words correctly but struggled with:
- Fluency
- Automaticity
- Retrieval efficiency
- Stamina
- And sustaining understanding across multiple pages of text.
Many teachers also commented on the increasing demands placed on pupils as they transition from accessible narrative fiction to more complex informational texts.
A closer look at the 2026 reading booklet
This year’s reading booklet followed the familiar SATs structure of gradually increasing complexity across three texts:
- Owl in Danger
- Matilda’s Invention
- Amelia Earhart
For many schools, the progression between the texts exposed clear differences in pupils’ ability to move from straightforward comprehension into more demanding retrieval, vocabulary and stamina-based challenges.
Text complexity analysis
Text | Likely challenge areas | Vocabulary examples | Reading demands | Approximate readability |
Owl in Danger | Inference, emotional understanding | bedraggled, hollow, fragile | Narrative inference, dialogue tracking | Year 4 to 5 |
Matilda’s Invention | Fluency, figurative language, and technical vocabulary | mentor, invention, scientific, imagination | First-person voice, humour, sustained reading | Year 5 to 6 |
Amelia Earhart | Subject-specific vocabulary, retrieval, stamina | aviation, altitude, navigator, equator | Dense non-fiction, long informational sentences, factual processing | Year 6 to 8 |
Detailed analysis of each text
The opening fictional narrative provided the most accessible entry point for many pupils. The text used:
- Familiar narrative conventions
- Dialogue
- Relatively supportive sentence structures
- And emotionally engaging content.
However, pupils were still required to interpret character feelings and implied meaning throughout the extract.
Some teachers noted that lower attaining readers still struggled with:
- Descriptive vocabulary
- Inference
- And tracking dialogue accurately under timed conditions.
Despite being the most accessible text in the booklet, it still demanded secure comprehension and efficient reading fluency.
Emerging national themes from schools
1. Non-fiction reading demands remain challenging
The transition from narrative fiction into dense informational text continues to expose gaps in:
- Retrieval
- Summarising
- Vocabulary knowledge
- And background knowledge.
Several teachers noted that the challenge was not only the texts themselves.
But the cumulative cognitive load of sustaining and retrieving across the full paper.
2. Secure decoding does not always translate into fluent comprehension
Many teachers highlighted pupils who can technically read accurately but still struggle to:
- Process meaning efficiently
- Read at a sufficient pace
- Or sustain comprehension across longer texts.
This distinction between decoding and fluency was a major recurring theme throughout responses.
3. Vocabulary breadth matters increasingly at KS2
Teachers repeatedly referenced vocabulary as a major barrier, particularly within the non-fiction extract.
For some pupils, unfamiliar academic and subject-specific vocabulary disrupted comprehension even where phonics knowledge was secure.
4. Reading stamina continues to be a significant barrier
A common concern was pupils’ ability to maintain concentration and reading efficiency throughout the full paper.
Several schools noted that fatigue appeared to affect performance during the final text.
Some teachers also highlighted that pupils who read more slowly struggled to complete sections efficiently enough to fully demonstrate understanding.
What schools are telling us they need
Teachers responding to the survey highlighted several priorities for reading development moving forward:
- Stronger fluency support beyond phonics
- Improved reading stamina
- Increased exposure to challenging vocabulary
- More opportunities to engage with extended non-fiction texts
- Clearer visibility of comprehension skill gaps
- And interventions that support confidence without significantly increasing teacher workload.
Final reflections
The 2026 KS2 Reading SATs paper appears to have reinforced an important national challenge: helping pupils move from accurate readers to fluent, confident and independent readers.
While many pupils can decode successfully, sustaining understanding across increasingly demanding texts remains a significant barrier for some learners.
As schools continue to adapt their reading provision, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension development are likely to remain major areas of focus across KS2 and beyond.
Supporting KS2 reading development with DreamBox Reading Plus
At Daisy Education, we support over 1,600 schools and more than 350 multi-academy trusts across the UK in developing reading fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, and reading stamina through DreamBox Reading Plus.
The adaptive online programme helps pupils become more fluent, confident and independent readers while giving teachers clear visibility of reading gaps and progress.
Many schools use Reading Plus as part of their wider KS2 reading strategy and SATs preparation, supporting pupils with extended reading, vocabulary-rich texts, retrieval and inference skills.
Explore a free four-week Reading Plus pilot to evaluate impact within your own setting.
We also have SATs-style resources, including six structured lesson plans and 12 worksheets focused on vocabulary, retrieval and inference using texts taken directly from Reading Plus.
Access them here:
Free SATs resources
Year 6 resources
These resources are designed to support primary school teachers like you in overcoming key reading challenges.
With a focus on SATs-style questions, these materials help pupils build essential reading skills with confidence.
Free SATs resources
Year 5 resources
These have been designed to build early confidence with SATs-style questions while easing teacher workload.
These resources engage pupils with high-quality, age-appropriate DreamBox Reading Plus texts.