Primary science: what is taught in Years 3 to 6 and how it is assessed

Key takeaways

• →Science is not tested in the Year 6 SATs. Teachers judge it from your child’s work across the year.
• →In 2026, 82% of Year 6 pupils were working at the expected standard in science, the same as in 2025.
• →Each year from Year 3 to Year 6 has set topics, from plants and magnets to electricity and evolution.
• →The national science sampling tests have stopped. The last ones ran in 2018.

1. How science is assessed in Year 6

There is no SATs paper for science. At the end of Year 6, your child’s teacher reports whether they are working at the expected standard in science or have not met it, based on their work across the year.^[1]

In 2026, 82% of pupils in England were working at the expected standard in science, the same as in 2025.^[2]

Until 2018 a sample of schools also sat national science sampling tests. The 2020 round was cancelled, and ministers have since decided not to run any more at key stage 2.^[3]

No test, still important: Secondary schools build on primary science from the first week of Year 7, so the topics below matter even without a test.

2. Science topics by year

The national curriculum sets the topics children must be taught in each year of key stage 2. Schools choose how to teach them and can add more.^[4]

3. Working scientifically

Alongside the topics, children learn to work like scientists: asking questions, setting up fair tests, measuring carefully, recording results in tables and graphs, and explaining what they found. These skills run through every year.^[4]

This is often what separates confident science pupils in Year 7. They know how to plan an investigation and say what their results show.

4. How to help at home

Ask questions together and test them: which paper towel soaks up most water, which ball bounces highest, how fast does ice melt in different places? Make it fair by changing one thing at a time.

Talk about the topic your child is doing this term and look for it in everyday life, such as shadows on a walk, circuits in a torch or rocks in a park. Our guide to science curiosity at home has more ideas.

Change one thing at a time, and you have a fair test.

5. How Brainhub can help

Brainhub teaches one-to-one primary lessons, live online across the UK, from £25 an hour, and supports primary science in schools through our partnerships team. Every family starts with a free 45-minute assessment.

1. 1. Is science tested in the Year 6 SATs?

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2. 2. What share of pupils met the expected standard in science in 2026?

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3. 3. Which year group learns about evolution and inheritance?

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Your next steps

• Ask your child which science topic they are doing this term.
• Try one fair-test experiment at home this weekend.
• Book a free 45-minute assessment if science is a worry.