Research School Network: What’s in a Question? Tracey Adams is rethinking the support pupils need to succeed in KS2 Mathematics

What’s in a Question?
Rethinking the support pupils need to succeed in KS2 Mathematics

It’s the last day of SATs and as I start to bag up the reasoning paper, I find myself pausing. Not to think about the data, the outcomes or even the test papers — but the questions themselves.

In the run-up to SATs, it is tempting to see questions as hurdles: items to practise, formats to rehearse, marks to secure. But what if we lifted our eyes? What if, instead, we saw each question as a window into thinking — both the thinking of our pupils and our own?

The truth is this: most pupils do not struggle with SATs questions simply because they ​“can’t do the maths”. They struggle because they don’t know how to think their way through the question — and that should challenge us.

What is really being tested?

A SATs question is rarely just about a skill. It requires pupils to interpret meaning, select strategies, connect prior knowledge, monitor progress and evaluate their answer. In essence, it is about thinking.

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), in Improving Mathematics in Key Stages 2 and 3, reminds us that when pupils encounter unfamiliar problems, they must draw on strategies to make sense of them. SATs questions therefore reveal not just what pupils know, but how they navigate the unfamiliar.

Consider a problem such as: ​“A sister is 4 years older than her brother. The total of their ages is 26. How old are they?” Many pupils understand addition and comparison, yet still become stuck. Not because they lack knowledge, but because they cannot decide where to start, what representation to use or how to check their answer. The barrier is not the maths; it is the thinking.

Lifting our eyes: from answer to thinking
In many classrooms, preparation for SATs becomes a cycle of practice papers, mark schemes and error correction. While this has value, it risks narrowing the very thing we need to expand: pupil thinking.

If we want pupils to succeed, we must move beyond surface features and focus on the thinking beneath the question. One of the most powerful shifts we can make is to model thinking explicitly. The EEF’s Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning guidance highlights the importance of teachers describing their own thinking.

This means making the invisible visible:
- ​“I’m noticing that…”
- ​“This reminds me of…”
- ​“I’m choosing this strategy because…”
- ​“I’m checking whether this makes sense…”

Instead of modelling only procedures, we model decisions. We show pupils how to interrogate a question, select a strategy and evaluate their approach.

Starting with the problem: the real barrier
One of the biggest barriers is not solving the problem — it is starting it.

EEF guidance emphasises that pupils need to learn how to interrogate and use their existing knowledge. They need entry strategies: ways into a problem when no obvious method presents itself.

This might include:
- Annotating the question
- Identifying what is known and unknown
- Drawing a diagram or bar model
- Trying a simpler version

These are not ​‘extras’. They are essential tools that enable pupils to begin.

Connecting knowledge: beyond a single skill
SATs questions often require pupils to draw on a network of knowledge, rather than a single skill. The EEF highlights the importance of developing a rich network of mathematical knowledge, where facts, procedures and concepts are connected.

When pupils struggle, it is often not because they lack knowledge, but because they cannot connect it.

For example, when faced with dividing a fraction by a whole number, some pupils attempt to apply a memorised procedure. Others recognise the underlying structure — scaling — and adapt accordingly. The difference is not in what they know, but in how flexibly they can use it.

Rethinking independence
Independence is not about working alone; it is about thinking independently.

This does not happen by accident. It is developed through modelling, guided practice and gradual release. The EEF reminds us that support should be temporary — scaffolds removed as independence grows.

In practice, this might look like:
- The teacher modelling thinking aloud
- Pupils responding to structured prompts
- Pupils internalising these processes and applying them independently

Independence, therefore, is built — not expected.

Assessment as insight, not judgement
SATs questions are not just an assessment of learning; they are a window into it. Assessment should inform teaching by revealing what pupils do and do not understand.

Every incorrect answer tells a story:
- A misinterpretation of language
- A gap in conceptual understanding
- A weakness in strategy selection

If we shift our perspective, mistakes become valuable. They help us understand how pupils are thinking and what they need next.

Excellent mathematics teaching is not only about secure subject knowledge. It is about understanding how pupils learn, the difficulties they encounter and how to support them to think more effectively.

SATs success is not built in May. It is built in every lesson, where we go beyond the answer and into the thinking behind it.

Are we teaching pupils to complete questions… or to think through them?

References
EEF (2025) Improving Mathematics in Key Stage 2 and 3. Education Endowment Foundation.
EEF (2025) Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning. Education Endowment Foundation.