For many young people, primary school will the very first step of their educational career - and it’s important to start on the right foot.
We’re taking a look at the top-rated primary schools around the country to help families make an informed decision, starting with the North East. The region has proven itself to be a hotbed of high quality state-funded schools, but we’ve narrowed it down based on two main factors.
The first is schools rated as ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted - meaning the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding have all been found to be excellent.
The second is the percentage of its pupils who completed the national curriculum’s key stage 2 in the 2022/23 school year, and met the expected standards for reading, writing and maths. We’ve selected only schools which surpassed both the national and local authority area’s averages.
Here were the 21 that scored the highest across the region:
1. Montalbo Nursery & Primary School
Montalbo is a mixed primary school in Barnard Castle, County Durham. A whopping 90% of its students met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in 2023, compared to 59% locally and 60% nationally. It also had a huge 35% of its student achieving at a high level in the same three subjects. | Stock Photo: Monkey Business/Adobe Stock
2. Haltwhistle Primary Academy
Haltwhistle is a mixed primary school in Haltwhistle, Northumberland. A huge 87% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in the 2022/23 school year, compared to 58% locally and 60% nationally. | Google
3. Bernard Gilpin Primary School
Bernard Gilpin is a mixed primary school in Houghton le Spring, Tyne and Wear. Last year 86% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to 62% locally and 60% nationally. | Google
4. Bailey Green Primary School
Bailey Green is a mixed primary school in Killingworth, Tyne and Wear. In 2023, 83% of its pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths, compared to 61% locally and 60% nationally. | Google