A PRIMARY school in the Cirencester area has been named as the best performing in the county.

New data from the Department for Education has revealed the primary schools in Gloucestershire with the highest reading, writing and maths scores for 2022-23.

The figures come from the annual tests that 11 year-olds take at the end of primary school.

Pupils scoring at least a scaled score of 100 out of 120 will have met the expected standard in the test.

According to the data, Meysey Hampton Primary led the way with 100 per cent of eligible students achieving the expected standard in key stage two in the 2022-23 school year.

It was followed by:

  • Amberley Parochial School, where 93% of pupils met the standard
  • Hatherop Primary School, where 90% of pupils met the standard
  • Sherborne Primary School, where 90% of pupils met the standard
  • Highnam Primary Academy, where 90% of pupils met the standard

However, school leaders' union the NAHT said ranking schools is simplistic and does not consider the context of the particular cohort or the community the school serves.

General secretary Paul Whiteman added: "No piece of data can provide an accurate picture of the effectiveness of schools, whose work goes far beyond that number, and league tables and ranking of schools should be scrapped.

"They can have damaging consequences and can actually be a barrier to improvement."

The government aims for 90 per cent of key stage two children to meet the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Overall in England, 60 per cent  of students met the standard in 2022-23 – up from 59 per cent  the year before but below 65 per cent in 2018-19, before the pandemic.