More KS1 pupils across south and west Dorset are working harder in their initial primary assessments as core subjects as pass results rise.

Results in reading, writing, maths and science in key stage 1 assessments have risen this year according to new data from the Department for Education.

Pupils reading results in Weymouth and Portland rose from 64 per cent in 2016 to 71 per cent passing this year.

Meanwhile, the pass rate only increased from 73 to 74 per cent in West Dorset.

Results in maths rose from 60 per cent in 2016 to 68 per cent this year for Weymouth and Portland pupils while West Dorset saw a rise from 65 to 73 per cent of pupils passing.

However, West Dorset pupils saw significant success in writing with 66 per cent of pupils making the grade this year, up from 54 per cent in 2016 while 60 per cent of Weymouth and Portland pupils passed this year, up from 54 per cent in 2016.

Finally, 79 per cent of pupils in Weymouth and Portland made the grade in science, up from 73 per cent in 2016 while in West Dorset the rate stayed constant with 83 per cent of pupils making the grade, up from 82 per cent.

Commenting on the figures, Cllr Andrew Parry, Cabinet Member for Education, Learning and Skills at DCC, said:

“The early KS1 results from 2017 for Weymouth and Portland are encouraging.

“We can see significant increases in maths, English and science, which we hope can be used as a solid base for further improvement.

“Our schools are constantly being challenged to raise standards and we are pleased to see that all the hard work being put in by the children and their teachers with the support of governors, is paying off.

“The county council will continue to support all schools to raise achievement across all age ranges in Dorset.”

Nationally, there was a bump of two percentage points in both reading and maths with reading results increasing from 74 per cent last year to 76 this year while maths rose from 73 per cent last year to 75 per cent this year.

However, writing results trailed other subjects with only 68 per cent meeting the expected standard, a significant number of percentage points behind the other subjects despite being an increase of three percentage points on last year.