Seven Shropshire primary schools fail to meet national curriculum test standards

Across England, 61 per cent of around 600,000 11-year-olds who sat this year's SATs – or national curriculum tests – achieved the Government-expected standard, according to the Department for Education (DfE).

This compares with 53 per cent in 2016, the first year of major changes to assessments.

The number of schools considered to be under-performing has also dropped.

However, five schools in the Telford and Wrekin Council authority and two in Shropshire Council's did not meet standards in 2016/17.

In Telford the schools were:

• Aqueduct Primary School

• John Randall Primary School

• Queenswood Primary School and Nursery

• Teagues Bridge Primary School

• Windmill Primary School

The other Shropshire schools were:

• St Mary's Bluecoat CofE Primary School in Bridgnorth

• Greenacres Primary School in Shrewsbury

A total of 511 (4%)of mainstream primary schools in England failed to meet the Government's floor standard this year, against 665 (5%) last year.

Schools are considered to be under-performing if fewer than 65 per cent of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, or if they fail to make sufficient progress in the three key areas.

School standards minister Nick Gibb said the results showed "teachers and pupils have responded well to the new, more rigorous curriculum".

Mr Gibb said: "Teachers and pupils have responded well to the new more rigorous curriculum introduced by this Government and these pupils were the first to benefit from the new approach to phonics."

He added: "There are now 1.9 million more children in good or outstanding schools than in 2010, with nine out of 10 primary schools given this rating at their last inspection - and our recent rise up the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) rankings puts the success of our reforms and the hard work of teachers on a global scale.

"This means that pupils are now leaving primary school better prepared for the rigours of secondary school and for future success in their education."

A spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council said: “We are aware of the list and which schools are included on it.

"Working closely with the headteachers and governing bodies of those schools, we have targeted resources to secure the necessary improvements to ensure pupil outcomes are at least at national average as soon as possible.”

Shropshire Council was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.