1,000 schools failing in 'three Rs': Hear informed debate on Yorkshire's primary school league tables

LEAGUE tables published today reveal that almost a thousand primary schools are failing to give their 11-year-old pupils a decent grounding in reading, writing and arithmetic.

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League tables in full

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The figures from this year's Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) shows that 962 primaries across the country would be classed as failing under tough new targets, announced by the Government last month.

Ministers expect all schools to get 60 per cent of pupils achieving a basic standard in English and maths and keep pace with the national average level of progress being shown by children between the ages of seven and 11 when they sit national tests.

Those schools that fail to reach the target could be closed, turned into academies or be taken over by stronger performing primaries.

Today's primary school league tables show that 962 schools, out of around 11,500 for whom results are known, failed to meet this threshold.

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However this figure does not include the schools who took part in a boycott of the primary school SATS earlier this year. The industrial action was launched by the National Association of Head Teachers and the National Union of Teachers in protest over the impact that the testing has on the profession.

It meant that more than 600 primary schools in Yorkshire refused to administer the SATs and around 20,000 pupils in the region went untested.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb insisted today the new minimum standards being asked of primary schools were "firm but fair".

He said the statistics show that many primaries are providing a "first-class education".

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But he added: "Currently half of all 10 and 11-year-old boys who qualify for free school meals are being let down by our education system. It is unacceptable that after seven years of primary school these children are not at the standard in English and maths that they need to flourish at secondary school."

The league tables published today showed Rotherham again had the lowest level of children achieving the basics in the region. Department for Education figures show 66 per cent of its pupils achieved level four - the average standard expected of the age group - in both their English and maths tests.

York was the region's strongest performing authority with 78 per cent of pupils making the grade.

The primary school league tables show how every 11-year-old in England performed in English and maths tests.

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The tables reveal that slightly more primaries scored full marks than last year.

They suggest that 289 primaries succeeded in making sure every 11-year-old left with Level 4 in both English and maths, compared to 282 last year.

Click here to find your school's results. The league tables show how every 11-year-old in England performed in English and maths tests.

Data for a quarter of schools, around 4,000 in total, is missing due to the boycott by the National Union of Teachers and the National Association of Headteachers.

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It means each table shows gaps in results for schools that did not sit the tests, which will make it harder for parents choosing schools for their children to compare the results of different primaries.

More reports and analysis, including tabulated school-by-school results, in Wednesday's Yorkshire Post.

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