Education chiefs are celebrating an ‘excellent year’ for Shropshire pupils in both primary and secondary schools after receiving provisional figures.

The initial results provided by schools for achievement at key stage two – national curriculum tests taken by 11 year olds – and key stage four – GCSEs – highlight ongoing improvements in the achievements of students.

The county’s key stage two results for the percentage of children attaining the national target of level four or above in 2011 include a seven per cent improvement on last year’s results in writing, placing Shropshire three per cent above the national average.

There were also improvements in English and maths, while the county maintained its 2010 level for reading. All of these are above the national average.

When compared with the other 151 councils in England, Shropshire has improved on every indicator since 2010 and is in 22nd place in the country for writing, up from 72 last year.

In comparison with the other 13 councils in the West Midlands, Shropshire is second on all level four indicators.

Key stage two results for the percentage of children attaining the higher level (level five) has not seen the same rate of overall improvement, but Shropshire remains at or above the national average on all level five measures and ranks second or third on most of the measures in comparison with statistical neighbours.

At GCSE level, an overall 77 per cent of students achieved five or more A* to C grades in 2011, compared to 73 per cent in 2010

A total of 60 per cent of students gained five or more A* to C passes including English and maths, compared to 58 per cent in 2010. Students’ average points score also rose from 441 in 2010 to 463 in 2011

Councillor Aggie Caesar-Homden, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for schools, said: “While yet to be validated, these figures show that this year has been another strong year for Shropshire schools.”