PrimaryTools · Question Level Analysis

Test analysis help

Everything you need to use the PrimaryTools QLAs for the KS2 and KS1 SATs and the Year 1 phonics screening check: getting marks in, reading the pages, printing reports and understanding the national figures.

No macrosA normal Excel file. Nothing to enable or unblock.
Up to 500 childrenAnd up to 30 classes, for large schools and trusts.
Your data stays with youNothing is uploaded anywhere. The file lives on your computer.

Getting started

  1. Download the file after purchase and save it somewhere sensible, such as your school’s shared drive. Keep a blank copy if you want to use it again for another cohort.
  2. Open it in Microsoft Excel (Windows or Mac). The Start page lists every page with a link to it.
  3. Fill in the Settings page: school name, class names and any groups you want to compare.
  4. Type or paste each child’s marks on the Marks page. Everything else updates straight away.

Each download comes in two versions: a blank copy for your own children and a demo copy filled with example children, so you can see every page working before you start.

Entering marks

On the Marks page, type each child’s name and class, then the marks they scored on each question. Use Tab to move along a row.

  • Only type what they scored. Once a row has a mark in it, blank cells count as 0.
  • Absent children: leave the whole row of marks empty. They are left out of every average. Type a single 0 for a child who sat the test and scored nothing.
  • Questions worth more than one mark accept any whole number up to their maximum, shown in the header. Phonics words are 1 for read correctly, blank otherwise.
  • Pasting from your MIS or another spreadsheet: use Paste Special › Values so the formatting and checks on the page stay in place.
  • Groups: put a Y in a group column (for example pupil premium, SEND or EAL) for each child in that group.

The Data check at the bottom of the Overview spots common slips: classes not on the Settings list, repeated names, marks it can’t read and marks above a question’s maximum.

Settings

  • School and test: shown on every page and report.
  • Classes: type up to 30 class names, from the top with no gaps.
  • Groups: name up to five groups. Groups named Pupil premium, SEND, EAL, Girls or Boys are matched to national figures where they exist.
  • Strong and weak thresholds: green from 70% and red below 50% by default. These colour strands, topics and questions. They are your own targets, not a comparison with national.
  • Score bands: set from the official tables for each test. You can rename the bands, for example for parent copies.

The pages

OverviewThe whole cohort, one class or one group: bands, each paper, every strand or topic.
What next?One A4 page: questions to reteach first, who to group, children close to the line.
Strands / TopicsStrengths and areas to develop, strand by strand or topic by topic.
QuestionsEvery question: what it tests, your %, the national figure, the gap and a teaching tip.
Heat mapEvery child against every part, highest first. Filter with the arrows in the header row.
Teaching groupsChildren below the weak threshold in each strand: ready-made intervention groups.
GroupsEach group against the rest of the cohort, and against national where figures exist.
ClassesEvery class side by side, for year leaders and trusts.
Pupil reportA one-page report for any child, with an optional second page listing every question.
Print all reportsEvery child’s report, or one class, one A4 page each.

The class and group you choose at the top of the Overview also change What next, Strands, Heat map and Teaching groups. The Questions page has its own choice.

Pupil reports and printing

  1. Go to Pupil report and choose a child from the list.
  2. Use the print options on the right: a teacher comment box, page 2, class comparison, band name, and comparison with national.
  3. Press Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on a Mac) to print or save as PDF.

To print every child at once, go to Print all reports, choose all classes or one class, and press Ctrl+P. Each report fits one A4 page.

For copies going home, switch off Class comparison and Band name if you prefer parents to see only their own child’s results.

Where the national figures come from

TestEach questionHeadline figures
KS2 2017–2024The national % for that exact question, from the Standards and Testing Agency’s published data.DfE results for state-funded schools: % at the expected and higher standard, average scaled score, and figures by group.
KS2 2025–2026A guide: the national average on real SATs questions from earlier years that test the same thing. Question data for these tests isn’t published.DfE results. 2026 uses the provisional figures; figures by group follow when DfE publishes them.
KS1A rough guide from the 2016 KS1 tests, the only year with published question data, matched by what each question tests.Teacher assessment, not test scores, labelled TA. None for GPS, and none from 2024 when KS1 assessment became optional.
PhonicsNone: no national data is published for individual words.The % of Year 1 pupils who met the expected standard, overall and by group (disadvantaged, SEN, EAL, boys and girls). 2026 figures are provisional.

The colours on strands, topics and questions use your own Settings thresholds. Compare with the National column to see how your children did against children nationally.

Scaled scores and bands

  • KS2: raw marks convert to a scaled score from 80 to 120 using the official table for that year. 100 or more is the expected standard; 110 or more is the higher standard.
  • KS1: scores run from 85 to 115; 100 or more is the expected standard. KS1 has no official greater-depth test score, so 110+ is shown as an informal high-score band.
  • Phonics: the threshold is 32 out of 40 for every year except 2026, when it was 31. An informal “Secure” band sits 4 marks above it, and you can change it.

Children who score too few marks for a scaled score are shown without one and counted as working towards.

Why parts of the workbook are locked

The calculations are locked and hidden so a typed-over formula or a deleted row can’t quietly give wrong results for a whole class. That means every report is reliable and needs no checking. You can type in every yellow cell. If there’s something you need that Settings doesn’t cover, get in touch.

Common questions

Does it work on a Mac?

Yes, in Microsoft Excel for Mac. Use Cmd+P to print.

Can I use Google Sheets, Numbers or LibreOffice?

The workbooks are made and tested for Microsoft Excel. Other spreadsheet apps can open them, but some charts, colours and print layouts may not show correctly, so we can only support Excel.

A child was absent for one paper. What do I do?

Type the marks for the papers they sat and leave the other paper blank; blank questions count as 0 once a row has any marks. If you’d rather leave the child out, clear their whole row of marks.

Can I add more than 500 children?

Each workbook holds 500. For larger trusts, use one workbook per group of schools, or contact us.

Why do some strands not appear in “strengths” or “to develop”?

Strands or topics worth only one or two marks are too small to judge fairly, so they are left out of those lists. They still appear in the tables.

Can I share the file with another school?

No. Each purchase is licensed to the school or trust that bought it, for use with its own pupils. Please don’t share, resell or upload it to other websites.

What about the older (pre-2017) versions?

QLAs for the 2016 tests, the 2015 sample tests and the pre-2014 curriculum tests are free. They are older versions and are no longer supported: they don’t have the features or quality of the current QLAs, and some need macros enabling.

Will you update the file if I find a mistake?

Yes. Tell us and we’ll fix it and release an update. The version number is on the Start page and in every page footer.

Test papers and mark schemes

The QLAs don’t include the test papers. You can download the papers, mark schemes and pupil materials free from our website:

Bought an older version?

We updated many of our test analysis tools in October 2026, with new layouts, more pages and fixes. If you bought an earlier version, you can have the updated version free of charge.

If you bought through our shop with an account, log in and go to My account → Downloads: the new versions may already be there.

Otherwise, or if you bought by invoice, email us with your order number or invoice number:

info@primarytools.co.uk

We will send you new download links for the updated versions.

Contact

Questions, problems or ideas for a new feature:

info@primarytools.co.uk

Please include the name of the QLA and the version number from its Start page.

© PrimaryTools · primarytools.co.uk · Test Analysis Help v1.3 · November 2026