AN BURLEY-in-Wharfedale Primary School is celebrating after the new Key Stage 2 figures reveal they are the top performing school in the Bradford district.

Pupils attending Burley and Woodhead Primary School achieved Key Stage two results higher than their counterparts in almost every other part of the country, according to the latest school performance figures.

The Department for Education has just published its Key Stage Two results for 2017 for all of the 12,000 primary schools and this year Burley and Woodhead Primary School was ranked highest in Bradford and 52nd highest in the entire country.

One hundred per cent of pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, with over one third of pupils achieving at a higher standard in all three subjects.

Headteacher Joanne Siddall said: "Our aim is to develop a school that everyone can be proud of which promotes a strong social, moral, spiritual and academic ethos. While we are very proud of our children's exceptional KS2 results, they leave Burley Woodhead with much more than this.

"When children leave our school, we aim for them to be respectful, resilient, confident, caring individuals with a love of learning. The wide range of opportunities our fantastic, and hard- working staff offer them, through their time with us in school, ensures that this happens."

Addingham Primary School ranked 21st in the Bradford district, All Saints' Primary School, Ilkley, 13th, Ashlands Primary School 79th, Ben Rhydding Primary School, 8th, Scared Heart Catholic Primary School, Ilkley, 10th and Burley Oaks Primary School 25th. All the schools met the Government's "floor standard".

Bradford district has jumped 15 places in the national league tables for primary school results, according to the figures. However, despite the good progress, it still remains towards the bottom end of the table of best performing local authority areas – up from 139th in 2016, when Bradford was the joint fifth worst performer, to 124th this year.

Children in Bradford are making better progress in reading, writing and maths during their primary school education than pupils in most areas of Yorkshire.

The data shows that Bradford district has the joint highest score in the Yorkshire region for the progress being made in maths and the third highest score for the progress being made in reading and writing, out of the 15 education authority areas.

Across Bradford 57 per cent of 11-year-old pupils reached or bettered the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. This was an increase of ten per cent on 2015/16 and closes the gap with the national average by two per cent. Nationally 61 per cent of pupils achieved this.

Two-thirds of Bradford pupils (66 per cent) are reaching the expected standard in reading, an increase of nine per cent on last year.

The data also shows that a number of Bradford schools failed to meet the Government’s “floor standard”. Schools are considered to be under-performing if fewer than 65 per cent of pupils reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, or if they fail to make sufficient progress in these areas.

Councillor Imran Khan, Bradford Council’s executive member for education, employment and skills, said: “There are very encouraging signs in this latest set of league tables which show that our pupils are making good progress during their primary school education. We know that we have more to do to ensure Bradford closes the gap with the national average but all the signs are there that we are in the process of doing this.

“We have lots of excellent work taking place across our primary schools. We support and challenge schools where this is necessary and will do everything we can to ensure Bradford pupils have access to the best possible education.”