MORE Wiltshire primary school pupils than ever are achieving expected levels for reading, writing and maths according to the latest Government figures.

The Department for Education performance tables published last week show 76 percent of Wiltshire primary school children reached the expected level 4 in all three areas of reading, writing and maths. The figure is three per cent up from Wiltshire's 2012 figures and one percent above this year's national figure of 75 percent.

In the Journal area, schools achieving 100 per cent (although sometimes with small numbers of eligible pupils) included Wardour Primary School, Hindon Primary School, Whiteparish All Saints Primary School, St Thomas a Becket Primary School in Tilshead and Collingbourne Church of England Primary School in Collingbourne Ducis.

Some way behind was Wilton and Barford Primary School, where only 37 per cent of the 19 eligible pupils achieved the standard. This was down from 57 per cent last year.

Kate Heathcote, headteacher at Whiteparish, said the results reflected the hard work of staff and pupils. She added: “This has finished a really fantastic year in which we have had an outstanding Ofsted and ended up in the top ten in the county.”

Jan Nock, Wilton and Barford headteacher, said the league tables did not take into account that schools such as hers were resource bases, educating children with special learning needs from all over the county. She said: “We celebrate our students' successes and have high expectations.”

All 11-year-olds sit Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) and teachers assess which level pupils have attained in the summer of their final year at primary school.

Wiltshire also had more pupils than average achieving above the expected level 4. Some 49 per cent attained level 5 in reading, which was four per cent higher than the national figure of 45 percent. A third of pupils (33 per cent) achieved level 5 in writing and 40 per cent achieved level 5 in maths.

The tables also reveal that the vast majority of Wiltshire primary school pupils are making expected progress between the two sets of SATS tests taken at the ages of seven and 11.

Laura Mayes, Wiltshire Council's Cabinet member for children services said: "These results are very encouraging for Wiltshire and underline the commitment and hard work of both pupils and teachers.”