The local authority Sats results published today show that the difference between the lowest- and highest-performing areas has widened.
In the lowest-performing authority, 52 per cent of 10- and 11-year-olds reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compared with 80 per cent in the highest-performing authority - a gap of 28 percentage points, up from 25 percentage points last year.
The provisional results also show the difference in reading scores has narrowed, with results ranging from 65 per cent of pupils reaching the expected standard to 87 per cent reaching the expected standard. This is a gap of 22 percentage points - down from 25 percentage points last year.
The percentage of pupils reaching the expected standard in writing, which is teacher-assessed, ranged from 69 per cent to 87 per cent, a gap of 18 percentage points - the same as last year.
And in maths, the range was from 66 per cent to 88 per cent, a gap of 22 percentage points - slightly higher than 21 percentage points last year.
About 600,000 Year 6 children took the tests in reading, maths and spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) in May, and assessments of pupils’ writing carried out by their teachers were also submitted.
Provisional statistics, published earlier this year, revealed that 64 per cent of Year 6 pupils reached the expected standard in all of reading, writing and maths - a rise from 61 per cent in 2017.
Today’s statistics show that 10 per cent of pupils reached the higher standard.
The results showed 75 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, on a paper that included a text about giant pandas. Initial reports deemed this “fair”, but concerns were raised that the use of phrases and sayings made the paper difficult for children with English as an additional language.
In maths, 76 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard despite concerns that one of the papers had been a “nightmare”, and 78 per cent reached the expected standard in Spag.
In writing, 78 per cent of pupils reached the expected standard, up from 76 per cent last year, but the Department for Education has said the results are not directly comparable due to changes in the way writing was assessed.
The school-level results will be published in December.
Nick Gibb, schools standards minister, said: “Today’s results show how well schools have adapted to the higher expectations and greater challenge of the new primary curriculum. In the first Sats that tested pupils’ achievements in 2016, just 66 per cent reached the expected standard in reading. Today that figure is 75 per cent.
“Standards are rising in our primary schools and pupils starting secondary school for the first time this week will be better prepared for its new challenges than ever before.”
