Number of 11-year-old pupils achieving expected standards rises again

The number of primary school pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths has risen again, official figures show.

Across England, 64% of 11-year-olds who sat this year’s Sats – or national curriculum tests – met Government targets in all three areas, up from 61% last year, according to the Department for Education (DfE).

While the number of schools considered to be under-performing has decreased, 364 mainstream primaries in England fell below the primary school floor standard.

Schools are considered to be under-performing if fewer than 65% of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, or if they fail to make sufficient progress in the three key areas.

The number of “coasting” schools – a measure which looks at results over the past three years – has risen to 640, up from 524 last year and 477 in 2016.

Schools come under this definition if, based on revised data for all of the past three years, fewer than 85% of pupils achieved the expected standard at the end of primary school and they failed to make sufficient progress in reading, maths and writing.

This year’s figure equates to one in 20 of all schools included in the coasting calculation.

Earlier this year the DfE announced proposals aimed at ending confusion over how schools are measured.

The system of using the two standards – floor and coasting – to judge school performance will be replaced with a new single measure.