More children achieved literacy and numeracy targets before leaving primary school this year than last year, government figures showed yesterday.
Four in five children reached the required level across the board in reading, writing and maths. Despite the increase, more than 100,000 children will start secondary school next month without achieving the minimum standards in all three subjects.
Of the 580,000 pupils in Year 6 who sat national curriculum tests in May, 87 per cent reached Level 4, the minimum level expected, in writing, 87 per cent in maths and 89 per cent in reading.
Four fifths of children reached Level 4 across all three disciplines, a rise from last year. Girls continued to outperform boys at all levels overall but boys have pulled ahead in higher level maths.
The best performing areas were Kensington and Chelsea, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton, Redcar and Cleveland, Greenwich, Trafford, Lambeth, Havering, Bromley and Wokingham. The lowest performing areas were Medway, Poole, Luton, Doncaster, Bedford, Bradford, Peterborough, Walsall, Norfolk and Leicester.
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Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said: “Our reform programme is driven by social justice and we will continue to raise the bar so young people are prepared to succeed in modern Britain.”