KS2 SPaG Assessment
An adaptive KS2 Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar diagnostic. Apostrophes, commas, sentence types and clause-level grammar — graded by year-group expectations from the UK National Curriculum.
What's covered
Punctuation
Full stops, capital letters, commas (lists, clauses, parenthesis), apostrophes (contraction and possession), direct speech, semi-colons and colons.
Word classes
Nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, determiners, prepositions, conjunctions — identifying and using each class correctly.
Clauses & sentence structure
Main and subordinate clauses, relative clauses (defining and non-defining), complex sentences, fronted adverbials, conjunctions.
Verbs & tenses
Tense consistency, present perfect, past progressive, modal verbs, subject–verb agreement, subjunctive forms.
Vocabulary & spelling
Common homophones, prefixes and suffixes, root words, plural rules, the Year-5-and-6 spelling list.
Sentence-type construction
Statements, questions, commands, exclamations — recognising and building each, with correct punctuation.
Frequently asked questions
Does the assessment cover the whole KS2 SPaG curriculum?
Yes. Items are drawn from every strand in the Key Stage 2 English programme of study from Year 2 to Year 6 — punctuation, word classes, clauses, tenses, modal verbs, sentence-types and the Year-5-and-6 spelling list.
Is the SPaG diagnostic graded by year group?
Yes. Item difficulty is matched to the year-group expectations in the National Curriculum. A Year 4 pupil never sees Year 6 modal-verb subtlety as a baseline item; the adaptive engine only steps up when the easier band is secure.
Does it match the KS2 SATs SPaG paper?
Yes — command words, item structure and the strand mix line up with the KS2 SATs English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling paper. Strong SPaG performance maps directly to SATs readiness.
Will pupils get spelling tests too?
The diagnostic samples spelling items from the Year-3-and-4 and Year-5-and-6 statutory word lists. Teachers can also assign Northstar's spelling practice as a follow-up.
How does Northstar report SPaG results?
Per-strand, per-pupil. The teacher dashboard shows which strands are Secure / Developing / Needs attention; the parent report explains the same in plain language without the SATs jargon.