Schools from across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin today gained high marks in league tables showing how every 11-year-old in England performed in their English, maths and science Sats tests.

But nationally rising numbers of primary schools are failing to give the majority of their pupils a decent grounding in reading, writing and arithmetic, according to the tables.

At 885 primaries in England more than half of the children failed to reach the benchmark Level Four, the standard expected of the age group, in both their English and maths Sats. Overall fewer schools are scoring full marks.

Lilleshall Primary School, near Telford, was today rated as one of the most “oustanding” in England based on the percentage of pupils gaining Level Five.

And Queenswood Primary and Nursery in Telford is celebrating being one of the “most improved” schools in the country.

In the Shropshire Council education area, schools have again done very well, achieving above the national average on almost all measures.

This confirms the pattern of very high performance over recent years, and Shropshire continues to do well in comparison with other local authorities in the West Midlands and with other similar local authorities.

Shropshire schools where 90 per cent or more of their pupils achieved Level 4 or above in both English and mathematics include Claverley, St George’s Junior (Shrewsbury), Alveley, Moreton Say, and Worthen Primary.