Barrow MP John Woodcock has described the latest statistics for primary schools in the town as “encouraging.”

League tables have been produced which rank the schools based on a host of criteria including the percentage of children at a school who are achieving the expected level in core subjects such as reading and writing.

Yarlside Academy was the highest ranked school in the Barrow area in terms of the number of pupils meeting the expected standard - but other schools were below the national average.

Mr Woodcock said: “This is a mixed bag of results, but it is encouraging to see so many of our primary schools obtaining solid outcomes and some performing exceptionally well.

“All our schools and their staff are working so hard to give their pupils the best possible start, and many are operating in areas of crippling deprivation, but we should not be satisfied until results show that no child is being left behind.

“That means more resources after the government’s damaging austerity programme, but we also need a community wide focus on raising standards.

“It just isn’t right that generations of children in Barrow have left school with grades on average lower than the country as a whole.”

Yarlside was ranked the ninth best primary school in Cumbria based on the percentage of children meeting the expected standard for their reading, writing and maths.

According to the government statistics released, 94 per cent of children at Yarlside are meeting the expected standard for reading, writing and maths.

Another top performing school was Vickerstown Primary, where 77 per cent of children met the standard expected and the school was ranked highly for reading and maths.

Barrow councillor Alec Proffit said: “The fact our local school staff are achieving these results is absolute testament to their skill, dedication and fortitude.”

The progress score is determined by comparing the key stage two test and assessment results of pupils at this school with the results of pupils in schools across England who started with similar assessment results at the end of key stage one.

A number of primary schools in the Barrow area achieved lower than average for children meeting the expected standard for reading, writing and maths.

Ormsgill Nursery and Primary School and Ireleth St Peter’s Church of England Primary School were among those to achieve lower than the national average. Despite this, children at both schools have been seen to make significant progress across key stage two in writing.