Primary schools do important work, helping instil a strong educational bedrock in the children in their care.
The government’s latest preliminary performance figures for state-funded primary schools were released today (12 December), a week after it published delayed performance figures for secondary schools. From this new data, we’ve created a league table ranking state primary schools across the North East of England - shining a light on some of the region’s strongest performers in the most recent academic year.
It’s based on the percentage of each school’s pupils who completed Year 6 in the 2023-24 school year, who met the government’s expected standards in three essential school skills: reading, writing and maths. We selected only schools which had the highest proportion of students hit this important mark - which gave smaller village and community schools the chance to shine, while also allowing larger primary schools in centres like Sunderland and Newcastle to show they can excel.
Each school included also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was recently dropped, or, if they’ve been inspected more recently, had at least ‘good’ grades across the board. This means that the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management and student safeguarding were all found to meet or exceed government standards last time the school was inspected.
Here are 26 schools from across the North East that topped our list:
17. St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Sunderland
St Mary’s is a Catholic primary academy in Sunderland, with a roll size of about 468. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 90% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 65% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
18. Tudhoe Colliery Primary School
Tudhoe Colliery is a primary academy in Spennymoor, County Durham, with a roll size of about 210. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in call categories. In the 2023/24 school year, 90% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 60% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
19. St Mary & St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Primary School
St Mary & St Thomas Aquinas is a Catholic primary academy in Blaydon-on-Tyne, in the Gateshead borough, with a roll size of about 241. In its most recent Ofsted inspection, it was found to be ‘outstanding’ across the board. In the 2023/24 school year, 90% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 62% locally and 61% nationally. | Google
20. Egglescliffe Church of England Primary School
This is an Anglican primary academy in Egglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, with a roll size of about 228. It was formerly rated ‘good’ overall by Ofsted. In the 2023/24 school year, 89% of its pupils met the government’s expected standards in reading, writing, and maths - compared to averages of 64% locally and 61% nationally. | Google