Year 6 Maths Tutor Initial
Assessment Resources
There is no set way to run an initial session with a student. Some tutors may use a formal
assessment, whereas others might use a combination of different activities to assess
what a student knows and what gaps they have in their knowledge. You can find your own
way and what works for both you and the students you work with.
Here you will find lots of resources that can be used in an initial assessment for a year 6
student when tutoring them for maths.
Fractions
If you would like to use a formal assessment method to assess understanding of fractions, baseline
assessments and ready-to-progress criteria are a good way to ensure there are no gaps in previous
knowledge, and to check what areas of fractions a student is secure with. They also allow you to assess
a year 6 ability student’s knowledge against National Curriculum statements.
Year 6 Fractions Baseline Assessment of Year 6 Ready-to-
Assessment Progress Criteria: Fractions
As year 6 students prepare for their SATs, they may feel overwhelmed with the number of assessments they
are completing. Games and activities can allow you to assess a student’s understanding without needing
them to complete a formal assessment. These activities can be more fun for a student to complete and can
also help you get to know the student during their initial session.
Potion Maker
Equivalent Fractions UKS2 Fractions to
Fractions, Decimals and
Challenge Cards Percentages PowerPoint
Percentages Game
Times
Tables
To formally assess times tables in your year 6 ability students, using Times Tables Test Year 6
a short assessment paper will allow you to identify any times tables Assessment Pack
they find challenging.
Assessing understanding of times tables can help you work with students as they prepare for their SATs.
Identifying any gaps in these skills could be the first step in solving a bigger problem the student is having
with their maths. Practising working under timed conditions will also help the student prepare for their SATs.
This can easily be done with times tables work.
If a student feels nervous about working under time pressure, you can start by allowing a longer period of
time and build this up gradually.
UKS2 Ultimate Times Tables Multiplication
Times Table Press the Button
Challenge Worksheet Wheels Worksheet
visit twinkl.com
Properties of Shapes
Using baseline assessments allows you to formally assess a
student’s knowledge of properties of shapes through them answering Year 6 Properties of Shapes
short exam-style questions. These can help you to identify gaps in Baseline Assessment
knowledge and also ensure a student has a solid understanding of
previous work that has been covered.
Quizzes and revision activities are a great way to assess student knowledge. Using these activities is less
formal than answering questions in a test paper but will still allow you to assess what understanding a
student has. You can also identify any gaps in their learning during this assessment to ensure you can
address these in their future sessions.
SATs: Year 6 Properties of
Year 6 Properties of Shapes
Shapes Maths Revision Guide
Maths Warm-Up PowerPoint
and Quick Quiz
Statistics
For a formal assessment of statistics knowledge in a year 6 ability Year 6 Statistics Baseline
student, you might choose to use a baseline assessment to ensure Assessment
they have a sound knowledge of previous work before moving onto
the year 6 curriculum.
Mastery activities are another way you can assess a student’s knowledge of statistics.
These activities require students to use their mathematical ability to find solutions to the problems. A student
will need to identify what calculations they need to do while considering the context of the problem. This will
allow you to also assess their problem-solving skills alongside identifying gaps in their statistics knowledge.
Year 6 Mean Average Maths Mastery Interpreting
Year 6 Statistics Maths
Maths Mastery a Line Graph and Pie
Revision Guide and Quick Quiz
Activities PowerPoint Chart PowerPoint
Number and Place Value
Using assessment papers is a quick way to formally assess students and identify any gaps
in their knowledge. Not every student nor every tutor will choose to use formal assessment
methods: however, they can be a quick and easy way to assess different skills.
Assessment of Year 6 Ready-
Year 6 Number and Place Value
to-Progress Criteria: Number
Baseline Assessment
and Place Value
visit twinkl.com
Using short and fun activities can help students to feel comfortable in their initial session. Challenge cards
can present short questions in a way that doesn’t feel like an exam or assessment situation. You are still
able to assess the student’s knowledge and understanding of number and place value with these challenges
but the student may feel more at ease in the assessment.
Year 6 Place Value Number Year 6 Read Write Order and
Year 6 Maths Place Value
Problems Maths Mastery Compare Maths Mastery
Chilli Challenge Cards
Challenge Cards Challenge Cards
Year 6 Maths Mastery
Year 6 Maths Mastery UKS2 Negative Numbers
Negative Numbers
Rounding Challenge Cards Challenge Cards
Challenge Cards
Calculation
Using games that require accuracy is a good way to assess a student’s ability with calculations. These
games feel less of an assessment to the student and allow them to relax a bit more and demonstrate
their understanding and skills. You can edit the timer to allow longer or shorter periods of time to assess a
student’s recall and fluency. If the student you are assessing finds it difficult to work with a timer, you can
also turn this off completely during the assessment.
This will help a student prepare for the timed work they will need to complete in their SATs and also allow
you to assess their exam technique alongside their calculation understanding.
Mental Calculation Addition Number Bonds Press Times Table Press
Press the Button Game the Button Game the Button Game
Doubling Press the Halving Press the Division Facts Press
Button Game Button Game the Button Game
Measurement
To formally assess a student’s understanding of measurement, using a baseline
assessment will help you to understand what they already know. This will also highlight
any gaps in a student’s knowledge which you can then work on through their sessions.
Year 6 Measurement Year 6 Measurement End-of-
Baseline Assessment Strand Assessment
To assess knowledge and understanding of measurement, you might also use physical resources you could
find around the house, such as clocks, rulers, scales and so on. As year 6 students will be completing lots
of assessments, they may be reluctant to work through more of these with their tutor too. Using games and
other activities can break this up for students and help them become engaged with their sessions.
visit twinkl.com
Using these alongside physical resources will give a different feel to their session and may help
them to feel more confident and enthusiastic about having additional tuition.
Interactive Measurement
Activities
Position and Direction
If formal assessments suit you and your students best, you can use these to assess
knowledge and identify gaps for position and direction.
Year 6 Position and Direction Year 6 Position and Direction
Baseline Assessment End-of-Strand Assessment
Using knowledge organisers can help to assess a student’s understanding of the key vocabulary and concepts
that are part of the position and direction topic. These can be used as a reference point for completing other
activities which might involve students getting out of their seats. The guidance on the knowledge organisers
can help to secure knowledge a student has and also highlight any areas they are less confident with.
Year 6 Position and Direction
Maths Knowledge Organiser
Algebra
When using a formal assessment method in an initial assessment, you might want to use SATs-style
questions for year 6 students to help familiarise them as they approach the exam period. In doing this,
you can also assess their exam technique and not only identify any knowledge areas you need to work on
together, but also any confidence issues or areas surrounding exams.
Year 6 SATs Algebra Questions:
Assessment Preparation
Algebra can often feel like a daunting subject for students. Making these activities engaging can help to take
away nerves that a student might be feeling, especially if they know their knowledge is being assessed.
Being creative with how the questions you are using to assess a student are presented
can help them to feel at ease and even enjoy the work they are doing.
Year 6 Algebra Maths Year 6 SATs: Maths Algebra KS2 Algebra Domino
Revision Guide and Quick Quiz Revision & Practice Booklet Loop Cards
visit twinkl.com
Ratio and Proportion
Using PowerPoint presentations to assess student knowledge can help to break up the
presentation of the work your student is completing. This is particularly important when they
are working towards an exam and will be completing more formal assessment-style activities.
Ratio and Proportion
PowerPoint
Differentiated worksheets can also be a good way to assess student knowledge and identify any
areas of difficulty. If the questions you have presented are too easy or too hard for your student, you
can provide them with a new set of questions quickly and easily. This allows you to assess their level
of understanding of ratio and proportion, and plan which areas you will work on further.
Solving Proportion Problems Ratio and Proportion
Differentiated Worksheets Differentiated Worksheets
SATs Support
If a student is coming to you specifically for KS2 SATs support, you might initially start
with finding gaps in knowledge in order to then help your student build up confidence as
their SATs approach.
It might also help to work on some SATs papers or SATs-style questions together to
look at exam technique and to help your students feel confident.
KS2 SATs Resources Year 6 SATs Survival
Join our online communities:
visit twinkl.com
