North East primary schools vie with London for best in class title
– Sunderland, Gateshead, Redcar and County Durham rank in top 25 of all English local authorities in national curriculum assessments at Key Stage 2
PRIMARY schools in the North East continue to be the strongest of any region outside of London despite receiving half the funding of schools in the capital, according to new data published today.
The Government has published new Key Stage 2 performance tables which shows first phase schools in the North East continue to deliver high quality education for children across the region.
SCHOOLS NorthEast, the representative body for all 1,250 schools in the region, praised primary schools for managing a turbulent year in which the Government made major curriculum and assessment changes.
A total of 57% of North East pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to 54% nationally. This places the region second after London (59%).
Progress scores in the North East were particularly impressive; 0.6 in reading, 1.1 in writing and 0.8 in maths, when nationally each of these was 0.0. This puts the North East second to London in reading and maths and joint first with London in writing.
More disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEN support reached the expected standard in the North East than any region other than London.
Mike Parker, director of SCHOOLS NorthEast, said: “Leaders and staff in primary schools across the North East have worked phenomenally hard in what has been an incredibly turbulent year. The Government has demanded huge change in the expectations on pupils and they have met that challenge head on.
“Our primary schools get half the funding their London counterparts receive, and yet they are achieving results virtually on a par. They deserve tremendous recognition for this achievement.”
All DfE data is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/national-curriculum-assessments-key-stage-2-2016-revised