MORE schoolchildren in Trafford left primary school with a good grasp of the 3Rs than anywhere else in England, outside of London.

Figures show that 76 per cent of Year Six children made the grade in reading, writing and maths ­— the second best result in England, with only Richmond-upon-Thames scoring a better result of 80 per cent.

The department for education has released the provisional results of this year's summer SATs, which are taken by youngsters in the final year of primary school, for every local authority in the country. They show what percentage of children reached the expected standards in the core subjects.

Trafford Council's score was in line with 2018 results and way above the England and North West Average, which stood at 65 per cent and 64 per cent respectively.

And nearly in one in five children achieved the higher standard in reading, writing and maths, nearly double the national average of 10 per cent nationally. The North West figure stood at nine per cent.

Davyhulme West Cllr Karina Carter, Lead Member for Education, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the SATS results which once again show Trafford to be leading the field nationally. We are very proud of our schools and these latest results. This is down to the hard work of all our staff, governors and parents. Special thanks to you all for doing such a wonderful job.”

Reflecting the national picture, girls outperformed boys, with 79 per cent meeting the grade compared 73 per cent of boys, but the result was better than average.

Nationally 70 per cent of girls reached the expected level and 60 per cent of boys.

Maths was the strongest subject with 86 per cent of children meeting the expected standards.

The weakest subject was reading, with 79 per cent making the grade.

In grammar, punctuation and spelling the pass rate stood at 84 per cent.

The results in all three areas were at least 10 per cent higher than the country's average.

SATs tests were overhauled in 2016 as part of Government reforms to introduce more rigorous assessments.

The tests are controversial, with some arguing they put too much pressure on children and are not a true picture of a school's performance.

The Government has said the tests are a measure of school standards and are used to hold primaries to account, rather than measure individual pupils.

A spokeswoman for the More Than A Score campaign, which is calling for changes to school testing, said: "However the DfE dress up their figures, they can't disguise the fact that 35 per cent of 11-year-olds are starting secondary school having been branded as failures.

"Many may have been put off learning altogether at a critical stage in their education.

"Making primary age children sit a week of tests, under strict exam conditions, is the wrong way to measure pupils' abilities and the overall performance of schools."

Overall, the proportion of pupils reaching the higher standard ­— above what is expected at this age - has risen by one point to 11 per cent

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said: "We want all pupils to leave primary school equipped with the knowledge and skills that will help them to be successful in the rest of their education and beyond ­— that's why I'm pleased to see an increase in pupils reaching the very highest standards at the end of primary school."

Nationally, Chinese pupils were the highest achieving group in this year's SATs, with 80 per cent reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Some 69 per cent of Asian pupils reached the expected standard in all three areas, along with 66 per cent of those with a mixed heritage.

And just under two-thirds of white pupils ­— 64 per cent ­— reached this level.

The figures also show the achievement gap between pupils whose first language is English and those for whom it is a second language has almost closed.

In total, 64 per cent of pupils who speak English as an additional language reached the expected level in all three subjects, just one percentage point fewer than those whose first language is English.