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

The Department for Education (DfE) performance tables published today show 76 percent of Wiltshire primary school children reached the expected level 4 in all three areas of reading, writing and maths. This is three percent up from Wiltshire’s 2012 figures and one percent above this year’s national figure of 75 percent.

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.

In Wiltshire, more pupils continue to achieve above the expected level 4 with nearly half of all Wiltshire pupils (49 per cent) attaining level 5 in reading – four per cent higher than the national figure of 45 per cent. A third of pupils (33 per cent) achieve level 5 in writing and four out of 10 (40 per cent) of pupils achieve level 5 in maths.

The tables also reveal that the vast majority of Wiltshire primary aged pupils are making expected progress between the two sets of SATS tests taken at age seven and 11. Wiltshire pupils have bucked national trends in reading, with 90 percent of Wiltshire pupils making expected progress compared to 88 percent nationally. Writing progress is 93 percent compared with 91 percent nationally and maths 88% in line with the national figures.

Laura Mayes, 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. These tests are only one part of the story as the pupils will also learn from being in a school community."

Carolyn Godfrey, corporate director said: “We are pleased with the improvement in overall results for reading, writing and maths achieved in these key tests for our primary aged children and we continue to work with all of our maintained schools to enable them to achieve excellence.”