Pupil’s young and old have started Stockport’s new academic year this month on the back of record results for the borough.
The first-rate statistic comes after pupils in Stockport achieved higher provisional results than the national average from Early Years right through to the end of Key Stage 4.
The record results come despite there being a more challenging testing and assessment criteria at primary schools and the biggest year-on-year fall in the percentage of pupils achieving A*-C grades at GCSE since the examination was first reported in 1988.
Cllr Dean Fitzpatrick, Stockport Council’s Executive Member for Education said: “What these results show is that no matter what age you are, Stockport is one of the best places to be educated, whether you are a toddler in early years, a child at primary, a teenager at secondary or a young adult at college.
“While this year’s KS2 results cannot be compared to previous years due to a more challenging testing system, it’s fantastic that Stockport pupils have achieved such great results compared with the national average.
“These superb results have also been replicated throughout Stockport’s education system, where we’ve also bucked the trend on the biggest year on year fall in GCSE results history in achieving A*-C grades. This leaves me with a great satisfaction knowing that our borough’s students are getting a much better education than those elsewhere across the country.”
Cllr Fitzpatrick added: “Considering how excellent the results are across the spectrum, I would like to thank a number of people across Stockport; such as Governors, Headteachers, Teachers, the School Improvement at the Council and of course our hard working students. What you have all achieved is beyond outstanding.”
The record results were first announced for those at KS2, which means students starting primary school for the first time will do so in the knowledge that Stockport exceeded the national average for the new primary school testing system in reading and maths.
Figures released show 58% of pupils in the borough achieved the expected standard in the combined Reading, Writing and Maths assessments compared to 53 % nationally.
Stockport is ranked in the top 25% of LAs across a series of other indicators based on SATs results including those for the separate performance of boys and girls. Particularly impressive is the performance of boys achieving the higher standard in combined reading, writing and mathematics which ranked Stockport as the eighth highest achieving LA in the country.
Those starting secondary school in Stockport can do so knowing that both age ranges are sensationally bucking the national downward trend.
More figures are due next month but early indications show that the success at primary school level is also being repeated at GCSE level, leaving Stockport as one of the highest ranked LAs in Greater Manchester and the North West.
These outstanding results are endorsed by Ofsted who judge 86.3% of school pupils to be attending a school deemed good or better.
This is boosted further at primary school level with over 93% of pupils attending good or better schools compared to the national average of 89.1%.