DORSET has placed in the bottom five local authorities nationally for the number of pupils meeting standards in reading, writing and maths in the latest primary school league tables.

The results show the number of children reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in their SATs exams in 2016.

It was the first time pupils had sat the new harder exams.

Just 45 percent of pupils in the county reached the expected standard in the three areas, 8 percent below the average for England.

This was the third lowest in the country, with only Bedford and Peterborough (42 and 43 percent) below Dorset.

However, DCC has said the results for writing are “unreliable” due to the new standards being set and it can’t be compared to previous years.

The new tougher exams have shown a dramatic fall in children meeting expected standard with 78 percent up to scratch in 2015 in Dorset.

Locally, Loders Primary School had zero per cent of pupils reaching the required standard in reading, writing and maths.

The best performers were Greenford Primary in Maiden Newton, with 78 percent hitting the standard and Lulworth and Winfrith with 89 percent.

The best performer in the Weymouth and Portland area was St Augustine’s with 72 percent of pupils meeting the expected standard.

Broadwindsor, Burton Bradstock, Thorners and Swanage primaries also managed more than 70 percent.

Cllr Deborah Croney, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for learning and skills, said: “Dorset schools continue to do well in reading. However, the changes to assessment of writing nationally caused anomalies that make this year’s writing outcomes unreliable and this disproportionately impacted on Dorset’s overall figures.

“We are working to improve maths and there has been exciting work across Dorset with the Teaching Schools Alliance and Maths Hubs, including the Singapore Maths Project. These new strategies are being implemented in schools and will further improve maths outcomes.”

The release of the results has led to widespread criticism, with Russell Hobby, the general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT saying that the data is “not worth the paper it is written on”.

He added: “This year we saw the SATs system descend into chaos and confusion. Delayed and obscure guidance, papers leaked online, mistakes in test papers and inconsistent moderation made this year unmanageable for school leaders, teachers, parents and pupils.

“The data gathered in primary assessment during 2016 is misleading. We warned the government that publishing this data in league tables could lead the public and parents to make poor judgements about a school’s performance, but it has still chosen to do so.”

Earlier this year parents protested around the country at the changes to the SATs, including in the Borough Gardens in Dorchester.

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