Dudley falling below national averages in raft of results for school pupils’ attainment

The latest education report from Dudley Council reveals the percentage of students in borough schools getting a standard pass (grade four) in English and maths GCSEs in 2024/25 was 54.6 percent.

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The national average for a pass in the same qualifications was 65 percent while the average across west Midlands schools was 57.2 percent.

In the report, John Macilwraith, Dudley director of children’s services, said: “Whilst there is improvement in many areas of outcomes, there continues to be improvement needed.

“During 25/26 the Education Team will be writing an Education Strategy that will bring all stakeholders together.

“This will align priorities from professionals in schools and education establishments, the Department for Education, Ofsted, parents and children to improve the outcomes for the children and young people of Dudley.”

There was better news for Dudley pupils in key stage two statistics, for children aged seven to 11, in reading, writing and maths combined.

Assessment levels for six core reading, writing and maths subjects in Dudley improved by three percent to 60 percent which matches the west Midlands level and is just one percent under national averages.

In early years and reception classes youngsters’ attainment is judged on a number of criteria including physical development, communication and language plus personal, social and emotional factors as well as academic areas and ‘understanding the world’.

The sum of these assessments leads to a target of a ‘good level of development’ (GLD).

A total of 63.7 percent of children in Dudley achieved the expected level in GLD which is below the national average of 68.3 percent.

A government initiative called Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life sets the authority a GLD target of 71.9 percent by the end of 2027/28.

Mr Macilwraith said: “We will still be below a national target of 75 percent by 2028, but more children will achieve that standard than Dudley has previously reached.”

The latest available data on school suspensions, for 2023/24, shows Dudley is below the national average of 11.3 percent with a rate of 9.6 percent.

Despite being under the national rate, the report says the rate for suspensions in Dudley is upwards compared to the previous year.

Suspensions for primary schools were at two percent, secondary schools were 21.3 percent and special schools were 2.9 percent, all below national levels.

Permanent exclusions also rose from the previous year, in Dudley the overall rate was 0.2 percent, higher than the national rate of 0.1 percent.

Provisional data for the 2024/25 school year shows an increase in permanent exclusions to 0.25 percent.

Mr Macilwraith said: “There are two significant schools for this, and the inclusion officers continue to work with the schools, academies and multi academy trusts to ensure that any permanent exclusion is the last resort for a headteacher.”