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2015 SATs – London leads, while floor standard misses suggest north-south divide

Today sees the publication of this year’s KS2 assessment tests (informally known as the SATs) taken last May by approximately 579,000 year 6 pupils. The national figures show that 676 primary schools in England failed to meet the government’s ‘floor standard’ for pupil achievement and progress – an improvement on the 768 schools that failed […]

Callum Fauser
by Callum Fauser
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Today sees the publication of this year’s KS2 assessment tests (informally known as the SATs) taken last May by approximately 579,000 year 6 pupils.

The national figures show that 676 primary schools in England failed to meet the government’s ‘floor standard’ for pupil achievement and progress – an improvement on the 768 schools that failed to do so last year, when the floor standard was raised. The highest proportions of schools missing the floor standard were in the East (7%), Yorkshire and the Humber (7%) and the East and West Midlands (both 6%).

Among maintained schools, 81% of pupils achieved level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths, with the highest proportions in the local authorities of Kensington and Chelsea (91%), Richmond upon Thames (88%) and Greenwich (87%). Outside London, the top three attaining LAs were Redcar and Cleveland (87%), Trafford (86%) and Warrington (85%).

The lowest attaining LAs, meanwhile, were Poole, Medway (both with 73% achieving level 4 and above) and Doncaster (74%).

In academies and free schools, the percentage of pupils at level 4 and over was 71% in sponsored academies, 84% in converter academies and 73% in free schools.

The numbers also show that 94% of pupils made at least two levels of progress in writing, and 91% in reading, compared to 2012 – the earliest comparable figures. There was also increased attainment in the grammar, spelling and punctuation test, up from 76% in 2014 to 80% this year.

Commenting on the results, schools minister Nick Gibb said, “The increased performance at primary level across the country demonstrates how this government is delivering on its commitment to provide educational excellence everywhere and ensure every child benefits from the best possible start in life, no matter where they come from.”

A note of caution was sounded by Education Endowment Foundation Chief Executive, Sir Kevan Collins, however, who noted that, “Today’s results also highlight the worrying North-South divide within the primary system: while many schools are doing well and few are falling below the primary floor in London, a disproportionate number in Yorkshire, the East and the Midlands are not.

“We need a concerted effort to reduce these educational inequalities… Schools need to make better use of what we know about what works and view evidence as a crucial tool to help them decide on the ‘best bets’ for spending their resources.”

The 2015 key stage 2 national curriculum assessments can be seen in full here

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