Revealed: The Black Country primary schools with the best reading, writing and maths scores

Figures show the proportion of students meeting the expected mark across the country is well below pre-pandemic levels.

Pupils scoring at least a scaled score of 100 out of 120 will have met the expected standard in the test.

It's worth noting that school leaders' union the NAHT said ranking schools is simplistic and does not consider the context of the particular cohort or the community the school serves.

Interpreting data like this too literally can have "damaging consequences" so it's worth bearing in mind that many other factors determine the success of failure of a school.

Schools serving areas where there is a high level of deprivation, or pupils who speak English as a foreign language, will find it difficult to compete on results. But they may show excellent improvement rates, helping children develop their skills from a lower base and preparing them for the challenge of secondary school.

However, with that mind, below are the scores, according the government data, in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and Sandwell.

Wolverhampton

In Wolverhampton, St Bartholomew's Church of England Primary School lead the way with 88 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by:

• St Stephen's Church of England Primary School, where 87 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Oak Meadow Primary School, where 86 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Holy Rosary Catholic Primary Academy, where 85 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Whitgreave Primary School, where 83% of pupils met the standard.

Walsall

In Walsall, St Anne's Catholic Primary School, Streetly lead the way with 97 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by:

Manor Primary School, where 88 per cent of pupils met the standard.

St Michael's Church of England C Primary School, where 83 per cent of pupils met the standard.

County Bridge Primary School, where 81 per cent of pupils met the standard.

St Mary's The Mount Catholic Primary School, where 80 per cent of pupils met the standard.

Sandwell

In Sandwell, St John Bosco Catholic Primary School lead the way with 87 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by:

• St Pauls Church of England Academy, where 79 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Grove Vale Primary School, where 78 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Oakham Primary School, where 77 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Timbertree Academy, where 77 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Galton Valley Primary School, where 77 per cent of pupils met the standard.

Dudley

In Dudley, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School lead the way with 97 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by:

• Pedmore CE Primary School, where 85 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• St Chad's Catholic Primary School, where 83 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Our Lady and St Kenelm RC School, where 79 per cent of pupils met the standard.
• Greenfield Primary School, where 78 per cent of pupils met the standard.

National Picture

As mentioned above school leaders' union the NAHT said ranking schools is simplistic.

General secretary Paul Whiteman added: "No piece of data can provide an accurate picture of the effectiveness of schools, whose work goes far beyond that number, and league tables and ranking of schools should be scrapped.

"They can have damaging consequences and can actually be a barrier to improvement."

The Government aims for 90 per cent of key stage two children to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Overall in England, 60 per cent of students met the standard in 2022-23 – up from 59 per cent the year before but below 65 per cent in 2018-19, before the pandemic.

While Mr Whiteman said key stage two tests can identify "broad concerns", he added government investment is ultimately needed to see improvements.

He said: "Ministers failed to provide anything like the funding recommended by the Government's education recovery tsar to help pupils recover from the pandemic."

Sir Kevan Collins, former education recovery tsar, proposed a £15 billion long-term catch-up programme for children whose learning has been disrupted by the pandemic.

A Department of Education spokesperson said: “We know the pandemic had a significant impact on education globally which is why we have made £5 billion available since 2020 for education recovery initiatives, including just under five million tutoring course starts to date supporting pupils in all corners of the country."

They added England outperformed the international average in maths, reading and science.

To check out the source data visit gov.uk.