"Council statement over primary school results misleading" - Lib Dems

2.29.09pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 11th Aug 2008

The Conservative executive member for Children and Young People was quoted as saying that she was pleased that "the results were at least as good as last year". "This was very misleading" commented Councillor Macro. "The percentage getting the target level 4 in science this year was 88%. Last year it was 91%. Even a primary schoolchild knows that going from 91 to 88 is a decline. To describe the decline in results for mathematics from 80% to 77.5% as 'marginal' is also misleading."

"Even if the statement had been accurate, it showed enormous complacency. We should be aiming to improve schools results for the sake of our children's future, not stand still. 77% was the average for mathematics in England last year and 88% was the average for science. Hitting the average is no cause for celebration. West Berkshire's figures of 82% for English, 77% for Maths and 88% for science also compare unfavourably with Wokingham's figures of 88%, 84% and 95% respectively".