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Primary school league tables 2017: Compare the top 1,000 schools as academies fail to make as much progress as state counterparts

Primary school league tables were published on Thursday - PA
Primary school league tables were published on Thursday - PA

Pupils at academies and free schools are less likely to make progress in maths and reading than those at state maintained primary schools, official figures show.

The Department for Education has measured how much progress primary school children have made, as well as how many have met the Government's national standard for the three Rs.

Overall, the number of primary school pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths has risen from 53 per cent last year to 61 per cent this year.

Schools have improved in all areas of KS2
Schools have improved in all areas of KS2

The rise is partly explained by the fact that schools are now in their second year of teaching the new tougher SATs, which incorporate a tougher primary curriculum introduced in 2014, brought in to “raise expectations”.

Academies were introduced by Tony Blair's Labour Government, seen as a way of turning around the worst-performing schools and schools in disadvantaged areas.

In 2010 the former Education Secretary Michael Gove made academies and free schools one of his flagship education reforms by encouraging all schools to turn into academies. He also introduced free schools, which like academies receive funds directly from the Government, and are set up by groups of parents, teachers, charities, trusts or religious and voluntary groups.

Failing schools which were ordered by the Government to be turned into “sponsored academies” in a bid to raise standards, but this year’s figures show that these schools under-performed against the average of all local authority-maintained schools.

Even children at schools that were turned into sponsored academies six or more years ago are still making less progress than their peers at local authority schools for in reading, writing and maths.

Sponsored academies perform worse than the local authority average
Sponsored academies perform worse than the local authority average

Some 55 per cent of students at the sponsored academies that have existed for at least six years achieved the expected standard in these three crucial subjects,  compared to 62 per cent of those on local-authority maintained schools. This seven-point gap has increased from six points in 2016.

The progress score of sponsored academies is lower than average for both reading (-0.8) and maths (-0.3), while it is slightly higher than the average in writing (0.1).

Children at free schools have below average attainment and are also making less progress than those at state maintained schools, the figures showed, although there are a relatively small number of free schools - just 36 - included in the data.

Meanwhile, children at converter academies - schools which have opted to turn into academies - are have made similar progress to those at local authority schools.

Progress scores are presented as positive or negative numbers either side of zero. A score of zero means that pupils in a school (or group) made the same progress as those with similar prior attainment nationally. A positive score means that they made more progress than those with similar prior attainment, while a negative score means they made less progress than pupils with similar starting points nationally.

Overall, more than 270,0000 children are at primary schools failed to meet the expected standard by the end of primary school. Schools are considered under-performing if fewer than 65 per cent of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, or if they fail to make sufficient progress in them.

The statistics also show regional variations, with children in London the most likely to get a good education, while those in the Yorkshire and the Humber the least likely to have access to a good primary school.

London outperforms the rest of the country at KS2
London outperforms the rest of the country at KS2

London performed the best of any region in England this year, with 67 per cent of students achieving the expected standard and 11 per cent the higher standard.

This compares to Yorkshire and the Humber, the worst performing region for both the percentage of students achieving the expected standard (58 per cent) and the higher standard (seven per cent).

Larger schools are not seeing their students progress as much as smaller ones, the data showed. Schools that have more than 91 students are performing worse in the progress score, a measure that analyses the progress that students made between key stage one and two. They have the worst progress score in both reading and writing, and the second-worst score for maths.

Teachers and pupils have responded well to the new more rigorous curriculum introduced by this Government

Nick Gibb, Schools Minister

Nick Gibb, the schools minister, said that the results who standards in primary schools are continuing to rise.

"Teachers and pupils have responded well to the new more rigorous curriculum introduced by this Government and these pupils were the first to benefit from the new approach to phonics," he said.

"Overall, the proportion reaching the expected standard has improved by 8 percentage points and the attainment gap between the most disadvantaged and their peers has also fallen by more than 10% since 2011."

He added that there are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, with nine out of ten primary schools given this rating at their last inspection.

 

Compare the top 1,000 schools

Primary school performance tables for Key Stage 2 results were published on Thursday morning by the Department for Education. 

The league tables rank more than 12,000 state primary schools in England according to the number of students who are achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. 

Following reforms to SATs last year, schools will be considered to be meeting the Government's expectations if 65 percent or more of their pupils reach the expected standard in these subjects. 

Primary league tables | Key terms explained
Primary league tables | Key terms explained

The Telegraph has also produced a searchable league table, revealing the top 1,000 schools in England.

Schools have been ranked according to the percentage of pupils who have reached the expected standard, and the percentage who have performed above it. 

The 1,000 best performing primary schools in reading, writing and maths 2016-17
The 1,000 best performing primary schools in reading, writing and maths 2016-17
London dominates tables again 

London performed the best of any region in England this year, with 67 per cent of students achieving the expected standard and 11 per cent the higher standard.

This compares to Yorkshire and the Humber, the worst performing region for both the percentage of students achieving the expected standard (58 per cent) and the higher standard (seven per cent).

SATs regional breakdown
SATs regional breakdown
Larger schools aren't seeing their students progress as much as smaller ones

Schools that have more than 91 students are performing worse in the progress score, a measure that analyses the progress that students made between key stage one and two.

They have the worst progress score in both reading and writing, and the second-worst score for maths.

These scores show how much progress pupils at a school made in reading, writing and maths between the end of key stage 1 and the end of key stage 2, compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 1.

The scores are calculated by comparing the key stage 2 assessment results with the results of other pupils across England who started with similar assessment results at the end of key stage 1. 

A score above zero means pupils made more progress, on average, a score below zero means pupils made less progress, and a negative progress means pupils in the school made less progress than other pupils across England.

The majority of schools have progress scores between -5 and +5.

Pupils in bigger schools are failing to make progress
Pupils in bigger schools are failing to make progress
Ofsted blames reformed, tougher SATs for widening attainment gap

On the eve of this year's results day, the schools watchdog has said that the new primary tests are responsible for widening the gap between free school meals students and their wealthier peers. 

In its annual report, published on Wednesday, Ofsted said: “More demanding key stage 2 SATs and new measures have resulted in a gap of 21 percentage points in the percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics between pupils eligible for free school meals and their peers. This is wider than the gap previous measures showed.”