Primary school results: who are the higher achievers in maths? And does it matter?

The proportion of children in England achieving a good standard (level 4) of writing, reading and maths increased by two percentage points to 80 per cent this year, according to the school performance tables released on Thursday by the UK department of education. The improvement in maths was smaller, only one percentage point, but a higher proportion of children – 87 per cent- reached a good level in 2015.

In over 2,200 schools out of nearly 16,000 in England, all or almost all of the pupils (98% to 100%) were able to achieve a good level of maths. Among the towns with over 50 schools with available results, Wigan show the highest average proportion of children achieving level 4, followed by Blackburn, Warrington and London. Good maths results are homogeneously high and all larger towns have a proportion of good maths performers of 80 per cent or more.

But over 42 per cent of children achieved an even higher level of maths, level 5. In 328 schools more than two third of schools were able to achieve that level and in 33 schools more than 90 per cent of the students were able to do so.

Here is the list of those schools:

List of schools with a proportion of students achieving level 5 in mathematics above 90 per cent:

School Name	Town
Little Dewchurch CofE Primary School	Hereford
Seend Church of England VA Primary School	Melksham
Kniveton CofE Primary School	Ashbourne
Frosterley Community School	Bishop Auckland
St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School, Langley Moor	Durham
St Andrew’s Church of England (VA) Primary School	Axminster
Whatfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School	Ipswich
Tyldesley Primary School	Manchester
Edward Pauling Primary School	Feltham
St Joseph’s Roman Catholic Primary School	London
The Ferncumbe CofE Primary School	Warwick
Chingford Hall Primary School	London
Helmdon Primary School	Brackley
St George’s, Bickley, Church of England Primary School	Bromley
Holy Trinity CofE Primary School	London
St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School, Lancaster	Lancaster
Bledlow Ridge School	High Wycombe
Fairhaven Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School	Norwich
St Mary’s CofE Primary School, Deane	Bolton
Colyton Primary School	Colyton
King David Primary School	Crumpsall
Barnes Primary School	London
Ethelbert Road Primary School	Faversham
Scotts Primary School	Hornchurch
St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School, Sevenoaks	Sevenoaks
Fox Primary School	London
Paxton Primary School	London
St Mary’s Catholic Primary	High Peak
Stathern Primary School	Melton Mowbray
Mundy CofE Junior School	Heanor
Park Road Primary School	Sale
Great Tew County Primary School	Chipping Norton
Lea Primary School	Matlock

Among the larger towns, Wigan showed the highest average proportion of high achievers in maths (level 5), followed by Reading, London and Cambridge.

The school performance tables reports also on the pupils that achieve an even higher level of maths, level 6. These form only 9 per cent of children in England, the same proportion as last year. But in some schools they are not so rare. In 20 schools, 45 per cent or more were extremely high maths achievers. Here is the list of schools:

List of schools with a proportion of students achieving level 6 in mathematics equal or above 45 per cent:

School Name	Town
Little Dewchurch CofE Primary School	Hereford
Fox Primary School	London
Combe Church of England Primary School	Witney
Seend Church of England VA Primary School	Melksham
King David Primary School	Crumpsall
Over Kellet Wilson’s Endowed Church of England Primary School	Carnforth
St Mary’s Catholic Primary School	Liverpool
Temple Guiting Church of England School	Cheltenham
Christ Church CofE Primary School	Oldham
Bowdon CofE Primary School	Altrincham
Brockswood Primary School	Hemel Hempstead
Whitchurch Primary School	Reading
Moseley Church of England Primary School	Birmingham
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School	Stonehouse
Stoke Row Church of England School	Henley-on-Thames
St Thomas More Roman Catholic Voluntary Aided Primary School	Berkhamsted
Wentworth CofE (Controlled) Junior and Infant School	Rotherham
Owslebury Primary School	Winchester
Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Primary School	Chelmsford
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School	Bristol

While Wigan is the best place for good and high achievers in maths, Cambridge shines for a higher average proportion of kids reaching level 6, followed by Reading and London; exactly the same ranking as last year.

But before you are tempted to move to Wigan, Reading, London or Cambridge in the hope that your child becomes a top maths performers, we stop and consider the interpretation of this data.

If in a top school for maths achievement (in terms of proportion of kids reaching level 4) two children out of a class of 30 – almost seven per cent – suddenly did not perform well, the school would drop below the 4000^th position.

And performance for 11 years-old children (the age at which kids take the KS2 test) is based on a variety of factors apart from the quality of the school – for example how well the child slept the night before, or if they are hungry or anxious during the test.

From 2016 the test will change and the old levels will be replaced, but there will still be quantitative scores with the chance to read too much into the results and the school rankings…as we are probably doing now.