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SAT results: The English local authority areas where the most children met English and maths standards, including the West Midlands

There are some huge differences in SAT results for pupils in different areas of England 👀

By Fionnuala Bourke
Published

  • Provisional national SAT performance data for 2025 is out now

  • This is based on assessments primary school pupils take in school skills like English and maths

  • Overall, the proportion of young learners meeting the expected level in these skills has gone up

  • But there remains huge differences between the regions - and different council areas across England

Primary schools across the West Midlands are helping children build essential skills they need to succeed throughout their education. But when it comes to how many pupils across the whole of England finish school with them, persistent regional gaps are highlighted.

Last week, the Government released provisional national performance data for pupils who reached the end of Key Stage 2 – or Year 6 – in the 2024/25 school year. These results are largely based on the standard assessment tests (SATs) learners sit in their final year of primary school. It showed that the proportion of children nationwide who met the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths has risen to 62% – up from 61% the year before.

But the figures showed that attainment varied quite significantly from this national average across England’s different regions. The gap between the highest and lowest performing regions, London and the South West respectively, was 9 percentage points this year. But it has narrowed slightly since 2024 when it sat at 10 percentage points, with a decrease in London and an increase in the South West’s performance. You can see how councils across the West Midlands fared below.

Pupils in England sit Sats in the summer of Year 6 (PA)
Pupils in England sit Sats in the summer of Year 6 (PA)

The attainment gap appears even more stark across different council areas. With this in mind, we’ve taken a look at the percentage of this year’s recent primary school leavers who met Government standards for these three key school skills in each of them - to help families get an idea of what attainment looks like in their community. Each local authority has been listed by region, and then by those with the highest proportion of children reaching expected standards in reading, writing and maths in the most recent school year. Where two councils have the same score, they have been listed alphabetically.

Here is how each of them did:

North East

The regional average across the North East was 61%.

  1. Sunderland - 65%

  2. Stockton-on-Tees - 64%

  3. Gateshead - 63%

  4. Darlington - 62%

  5. Hartlepool - 62%

  6. Middlesbrough - 62%

  7. Newcastle - 62%

  8. Redcar & Cleveland - 62%

  9. South Tyneside - 60%

  10. County Durham - 59%

  11. North Tyneside - 59%

  12. Northumberland - 58%

North West

The regional average across the North West was 60%.

  1. Trafford - 70%

  2. Warrington - 68%

  3. Wigan - 65%

  4. Cheshire East - 64%

  5. Bury - 63%

  6. Stockport - 63%

  7. Bolton - 62%

  8. Cheshire West and Chester - 61%

  9. Halton - 61%

  10. Knowsley - 61%

  11. St Helens - 61%

  12. Blackburn with Darwen - 60%

  13. Salford - 60%

  14. Tameside - 60%

  15. Lancashire - 59%

  16. Rochdale - 58%

  17. Oldham - 57%

  18. Westmorland and Furness - 57%

  19. Wirral - 56%

  20. Blackpool - 55%

  21. Liverpool - 55%

  22. Manchester - 55%

  23. Sefton - 55%

  24. Cumberland - 54%

Yorkshire & The Humber

The regional average across Yorkshire was 60%.

  1. Hull - 66%

  2. North East Lincolnshire - 64%

  3. Wakefield - 63%

  4. Barnsley - 62%

  5. Doncaster - 62%

  6. Calderdale - 61%

  7. North Lincolnshire - 61%

  8. Kirklees - 60%

  9. Leeds - 60%

  10. North Yorkshire - 60%

  11. Rotherham - 60%

  12. Bradford - 59%

  13. York - 59%

  14. East Riding - 57%

  15. Sheffield - 57%

East Midlands

The regional average across the East Midlands was 60%.

  1. Rutland - 65%

  2. Leicestershire - 63%

  3. Nottinghamshire - 63%

  4. West Northamptonshire - 62%

  5. Nottingham - 60%

  6. Leicester - 59%

  7. Derbyshire - 58%

  8. Lincolnshire - 58%

  9. North Northamptonshire - 58%

  10. Derby - 54%

West Midlands

The regional average across the West Midlands was 60%.

  1. Solihull - 66%

  2. Wolverhampton - 64%

  3. Birmingham - 61%

  4. Sandwell - 61%

  5. Staffordshire - 61%

  6. Telford and Wrekin - 61%

  7. Warwickshire - 61%

  8. Dudley - 60%

  9. Herefordshire - 60%

  10. Stoke-on-Trent - 59%

  11. Coventry - 58%

  12. Walsall - 58%

  13. Worcestershire - 58%

  14. Shropshire - 57%

East of England

The regional average across the East of England was 59%.

  1. Thurrock - 69%

  2. Essex - 63%

  3. Luton - 63%

  4. Hertfordshire - 61%

  5. Peterborough - 59%

  6. Southend-on-Sea - 59%

  7. Suffolk - 58%

  8. Bedford - 56%

  9. Cambridgeshire - 56%

  10. Norfolk - 55%

  11. Central Bedfordshire - 50%

London

The regional average across London was 68%.

  1. Hackney - 76%

  2. Hammersmith and Fulham - 76%

  3. Richmond upon Thames - 74%

  4. Kensington and Chelsea - 73%

  5. Redbridge - 73%

  6. Waltham Forest - 73%

  7. Sutton - 72%

  8. Bromley - 71%

  9. Camden - 71%

  10. Greenwich - 71%

  11. Newham - 71%

  12. Barnet - 70%

  13. Harrow - 70%

  14. Westminster - 70%

  15. Southwark - 69%

  16. Haringey - 68%

  17. Tower Hamlets - 68%

  18. Wandsworth - 68%

  19. Bexley - 67%

  20. Croydon - 67%

  21. Merton - 67%

  22. Barking and Dagenham - 66%

  23. Brent - 66%

  24. Ealing - 66%

  25. Islington - 66%

  26. Lambeth - 66%

  27. Enfield - 65%

  28. Kingston upon Thames - 65%

  29. Lewisham - 65%

  30. Hounslow - 64%

  31. Havering - 62%

  32. Hillingdon - 60%

South East

The regional average across the South East was 61%.

  1. Slough - 69%

  2. Wokingham - 68%

  3. Surrey - 65%

  4. Buckinghamshire - 64%

  5. Windsor and Maidenhead - 63%

  6. Milton Keynes - 62%

  7. Hampshire - 61%

  8. Kent - 61%

  9. Bracknell Forest - 60%

  10. East Sussex - 60%

  11. Medway - 60%

  12. Oxfordshire - 60%

  13. Reading - 60%

  14. Brighton and Hove - 59%

  15. West Sussex - 58%

  16. West Berkshire - 57%

  17. Southampton - 56%

  18. Portsmouth - 53%

  19. Isle of Wight - 51%

South West

The regional average across the South West was 59%.

  1. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole - 63%

  2. Plymouth - 63%

  3. Bath and North East Somerset - 62%

  4. North Somerset - 62%

  5. South Gloucestershire - 62%

  6. Cornwall - 60%

  7. Gloucestershire - 59%

  8. Swindon - 59%

  9. Bristol - 58%

  10. Torbay - 58%

  11. Wiltshire - 58%

  12. Devon - 57%

  13. Somerset - 56%

  14. Dorset - 55%

Individual schools’ performance data based on this year’s results won’t be available until later in the year. What do you think about the results. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below