How many children can read, write and add up at the level they’re supposed to? The latest figures show that 67% can – which leaves a third of children left out and one in ten boys leaving primary school with the reading age of a seven-year-old.
National curriculum tests, or ‘Sats‘ as they are otherwise known, are taken by primary to secondary school students. They are split into different stages: Key Stage 1 (ages 7 to 8), 2 (ages 10-11) and 3 (13-14). This May, 554,000 11-year-olds took the exams, which – alongside teacher assessments of the year’s performance – aim to assess ‘the three Rs’: reading, writing and mathematics.
The latest figures from the Department for Education are for Key Stage 2. May’s exams saw a higher percentage of students reaching the expected level of 4 all round.
The percentages of children reaching level 4 – the expected level of attainment – are:
• English 81% (86% for girls, 77% for boys)
• Reading 84% (87% for girls, 80% for boys)
• Writing 75% (81% for girls, 68% for boys)
• Maths 80% (80% for girls, 80% for boys).
But when you look at subjects combined – which is how children take them, after all – they show that only 67% reach level four in combined Reading, writing and maths. But, bad as that figure is, it has improved – which is something you might not realise from some of the coverage today. This shows what’s happened to those scores over time:
Girls v boys
Girls do better than boys – a trend that is consistent over time. And the biggest gap is in combined reading, writing and maths.
Results where you live
We’ve extracted the data by local authority so you can see how the situation varies across the country. It shows a huge contrast in some subjects, and you can explore our interactive map below:
Click image for interactive map
Here are some of those regional results:
• Richmond upon Thames has the best English result for boys, with 86% achieving level 4. The borough also has 93% of girls reaching that level. Cheshire East is level pegging with Richmond on Reading, where 88% of boys reach level 4
• The lowest reading figures for boys are on the Isle of Wight and in Rotherham, with only 67% and 69%, respectively, reaching level 4
• The Isle of Wight also has the lowest scores for writing – only 55% of boys and 76% of girls reach level 4
• It’s also the worst place for maths – 68% of boys reaching level 4 and 70% of girls. That’s followed by Medway, in Kent, with 72% and 74%.
• The best place for maths is Richmond upon Thames, again, followed by Trafford
• Derby, Nottingham and Manchester have the highest percentages of boys below level 2 in English. 11% of boys and 6% of girls in each borough fit into that category
Teachers v Sats
There are two sets of data released, just to confuse things. The results of the Key Stage 2 tests – or Sats, and the teacher assessments. One of the big questions is whether teachers will assess children as strictly as the tests. The results show that there is only a bit of variation – at level 5 English, teachers assess children higher than the Sats tests do – and the same is true at level 4 maths.
We’ve extracted the key data below. What can you do with it?
Data summary
Sats results by local authority
1. Figures for academies are included in the individual LA figures and also in the total for England Maintained schools, but figures exclude hospital
schools and pupil referral units.
2. Number of eligible pupils with a valid result in at least one subject in participating schools.
3. The England all schools figures includes those independent schools who chose to take part in the tests.
NORTH EAST
76
86
81
84
81
6
27.5
Darlington
81
86
83
85
84
5
27.9
Durham
77
87
82
84
82
6
27.5
Gateshead
79
89
84
86
84
5
27.8
Hartlepool
81
87
84
86
81
4
27.6
Middlesbrough
71
81
76
79
73
8
26.7
Newcastle upon Tyne
73
83
78
81
78
8
27.1
North Tyneside
79
89
84
86
84
5
27.9
Northumberland
74
84
79
83
79
6
27.2
Redcar and Cleveland
75
84
79
81
81
7
27.3
South Tyneside
80
89
85
87
80
4
27.7
Stockton-on-Tees
79
88
83
86
85
4
27.9
Sunderland
74
86
79
83
82
6
27.4
NORTH WEST
78
87
83
85
82
5
27.7
Blackburn with Darwen
75
85
80
81
79
6
27.1
Blackpool
72
82
77
81
79
7
27
Bolton
78
88
83
85
83
5
27.8
Bury
79
89
84
86
84
5
27.8
Cheshire East
84
91
87
90
86
3
28.5
Cheshire West and Chester
80
88
84
87
81
5
27.8
Cumbria
79
89
84
86
82
4
27.7
Halton
79
87
82
84
82
6
27.6
Knowsley
79
86
82
84
82
6
27.5
Lancashire
78
86
82
84
82
5
27.6
Liverpool
77
84
81
84
79
7
27.3
Manchester
71
82
76
78
77
9
26.7
Oldham
78
85
81
82
80
6
27.2
Rochdale
76
85
80
83
79
6
27.1
Salford
79
88
83
85
82
6
27.5
Sefton
82
89
86
87
85
4
28
St Helens
82
91
86
88
86
5
28
Stockport
82
90
86
88
85
4
28.1
Tameside
77
86
81
84
82
5
27.6
Trafford
85
92
89
90
87
4
28.7
Warrington
80
88
84
86
83
4
27.9
Wigan
78
89
83
86
83
4
27.8
Wirral
80
88
84
87
82
4
27.8
YORKSHIRE HUMBER
74
84
79
81
78
7
27.1
Barnsley
74
84
79
81
80
7
27.3
Bradford
72
83
77
79
77
8
26.8
Calderdale
79
86
82
84
83
5
27.7
Doncaster
72
85
78
81
80
7
27.1
East Riding of Yorkshire
81
90
85
87
83
4
27.8
Kingston Upon Hull
71
80
76
78
76
8
26.5
Kirklees
76
86
81
82
78
6
27.3
Leeds
75
86
80
82
78
7
27.2
North East Lincolnshire
73
81
77
80
79
7
26.9
North Lincolnshire
74
81
77
80
76
7
26.9
North Yorkshire
77
88
82
85
79
5
27.6
Rotherham
69
82
76
78
76
8
26.7
Sheffield
73
81
77
79
78
8
26.9
Wakefield
70
82
75
78
75
9
26.6
York
79
87
83
85
83
5
28.1
EAST MIDLANDS
77
86
81
83
80
6
27.5
Derby
70
80
75
78
76
9
26.7
Derbyshire
80
88
84
86
84
4
28
Leicester
73
83
78
80
78
8
26.9
Leicestershire
79
87
83
85
80
4
27.7
Lincolnshire
76
86
81
83
80
6
27.5
Northamptonshire
75
84
79
82
78
6
27.2
Nottingham
71
83
77
79
79
9
27
Nottinghamshire
79
87
83
86
83
5
27.8
Rutland
83
92
88
89
84
4
28.1
WEST MIDLANDS
76
85
81
83
79
6
27.3
Birmingham
73
83
78
80
78
7
27
Coventry
71
84
77
80
77
9
26.9
Dudley
77
88
82
84
78
5
27.3
Herefordshire
75
85
80
83
78
6
27.3
Sandwell
75
84
79
81
78
8
26.9
Shropshire
79
88
83
85
82
4
27.8
Solihull
83
91
87
89
84
3
28.3
Staffordshire
78
87
82
84
80
5
27.5
Stoke-on-Trent
73
82
78
80
77
7
26.7
Telford and Wrekin
76
87
81
84
80
6
27.3
Walsall
79
86
82
84
80
6
27.3
Warwickshire
79
88
83
85
82
5
27.9
Wolverhampton
74
83
78
81
78
8
27
Worcestershire
76
86
81
84
79
5
27.5
EAST OF ENGLAND
75
86
80
83
79
6
27.3
Bedford
72
83
78
80
77
6
26.9
Central Bedfordshire
74
84
79
83
78
5
27.2
Cambridgeshire
77
87
82
84
80
5
27.6
Essex
76
87
81
84
80
6
27.4
Hertfordshire
80
89
84
86
82
4
28
Luton
75
81
78
79
75
7
26.7
Norfolk
71
83
77
81
76
7
26.9
Peterborough
69
80
75
78
76
9
26.5
Southend on Sea
77
85
81
84
80
6
27.4
Suffolk
72
83
78
81
76
7
26.9
Thurrock
73
84
78
81
78
6
27
LONDON
78
87
82
84
81
6
27.6
Inner London
78
86
82
83
81
6
27.4
Camden
82
89
85
85
83
5
27.8
Hackney
78
86
82
83
81
6
27.1
Hammersmith and Fulham
82
84
83
85
81
6
27.7
Haringey
73
84
78
80
76
8
26.9
Islington
77
84
80
82
80
6
27.3
Kensington and Chelsea
81
91
86
87
85
4
28.3
Lambeth
77
89
83
85
83
6
27.6
Lewisham
76
88
82
83
80
7
27.4
City of London
x
x
x
x
x
x
29.1
Newham
76
84
80
82
81
8
27.2
Southwark
78
88
83
85
82
6
27.6
Tower Hamlets
79
85
82
83
80
5
27.3
Wandsworth
80
87
83
86
84
5
28
Westminster
81
87
84
84
80
6
27.6
Outer London
78
87
82
84
81
5
27.7
Barking and Dagenham
73
83
78
81
77
6
27
Barnet
81
89
85
87
84
5
28.2
Bexley
78
87
82
85
81
5
27.7
Brent
75
83
79
81
80
8
27.4
Bromley
81
89
85
87
83
4
28.1
Croydon
76
86
81
83
78
6
27.3
Ealing
76
84
80
81
79
8
27.3
Enfield
77
86
81
82
79
6
27.5
Greenwich
79
86
82
85
83
6
27.6
Harrow
81
88
84
86
83
5
27.9
Havering
83
89
86
87
82
3
28
Hillingdon
80
86
83
86
81
4
27.7
Hounslow
76
86
81
83
79
6
27.3
Kingston upon Thames
82
92
87
88
85
4
28.5
Merton
79
87
83
85
82
6
27.8
Redbridge
78
85
81
83
80
6
27.6
Richmond upon Thames
86
93
90
92
90
3
29.2
Sutton
83
91
87
89
86
3
28.5
Waltham Forest
74
83
78
80
78
8
26.9
SOUTH EAST
77
87
82
84
80
5
27.6
Bracknell Forest
76
89
82
84
78
4
27.2
Brighton and Hove
76
86
81
83
79
7
27.4
Buckinghamshire
82
90
86
88
84
4
28.5
East Sussex
75
86
80
83
79
6
27.2
Hampshire
79
89
84
86
83
4
27.9
Isle of Wight
67
83
75
79
69
7
26.3
Kent
74
85
79
82
79
6
27.4
Medway
70
82
76
78
73
7
26.7
Milton Keynes
78
87
82
84
81
5
27.5
Oxfordshire
78
87
82
85
81
5
27.6
Portsmouth
74
81
77
80
78
7
26.9
Reading
71
81
76
78
75
7
27
Slough
75
83
79
80
80
7
27.3
Southampton
74
83
79
81
79
7
27
Surrey
80
89
85
87
82
4
28
West Berkshire
77
88
82
85
80
4
27.7
West Sussex
76
86
81
83
78
5
27.3
Windsor and Maidenhead
81
92
86
88
82
3
28.1
Wokingham
82
90
86
88
84
3
28.4
SOUTH WEST
78
86
82
84
81
5
27.6
Bath and North East Somerset
82
89
85
87
82
4
28.1
Bournemouth
72
81
76
80
77
6
27.1
Bristol
73
85
79
80
79
7
27.2
Cornwall
76
86
81
84
80
5
27.4
Devon
79
87
83
86
83
4
27.8
Dorset
78
87
82
85
79
5
27.5
Gloucestershire
82
89
85
87
83
4
28
Isles of Scilly
x
x
x
x
x
x
27.9
North Somerset
79
87
83
86
82
4
27.7
Plymouth
73
82
77
80
76
7
27
Poole
81
89
85
87
81
3
27.8
Somerset
77
87
82
84
80
5
27.5
South Gloucestershire
80
88
84
86
83
4
27.7
Swindon
79
86
83
84
81
5
27.6
Torbay
71
82
76
80
78
8
27.1
Wiltshire
78
86
82
85
81
5
27.7
ENGLAND (Maintained schools only, including Academies and CTCs)
77
86
81
84
80
6
27.5
ENGLAND (All schools) 3
77
86
81
84
80
6
27.5
Download the data
• DATA: download the full spreadsheet
More open data
Data journalism and data visualisations from the Guardian
World government data
• Search the world’s government data with our gateway
Development and aid data
• Search the world’s global development data with our gateway
Can you do something with this data?
• Flickr Please post your visualisations and mash-ups on our Flickr group
• Contact us at data@guardian.co.uk
• Get the A-Z of data
• More at the Datastore directory
• Follow us on Twitter
• Like us on Facebook