MORE schools across Southampton and Hampshire are making the grade as results continue to rise.

Several of our schools are among the most improved in the country, based on Key Stage 2 tests taken by thousands of 11-year-olds earlier this year.

In Southampton, 73 per cent of children finished their primary education with level four in both English and maths, which is the standard expected by the Government.

The two percentage-point rise has seen the city continue its move up the national league tables, breaking into the top 100 out of 152 English local education authorities.

Just two years ago it was languishing near the bottom of the tables, with only two councils recording worse SATs results.

Meanwhile the 77 per cent of Hampshire’s pupils achieving the benchmark was a rise of one percentage point on 2010, and enough to move the county up one place in the league tables, to joint 35th.

The greatest year-on-year improvement achieved by an individual school was at Shirley Warren Primary in Southampton.

In 2010, exactly half of all pupils completed Year 6 having reached level four in both core subjects, but a huge increase has seen that rocket to 90 per cent this year.

Head teacher Jan Denholm said: “These are outstanding results that come from excellent teaching and excellent learning.

“We look forward to success such as this in the future – well done to all the pupils in the school.”

Full results

To see how your child's school performed and for a full list of results from schools in Southampton and Hampshire, see today's edition of the Southern Daily Echo.

Also recording a huge turnaround in fortunes was Thornhill Primary.

Two years ago, just 24 per cent of Year 6 pupils left the Byron Road school at the level the Government expects in maths and English, but this year that is up to 81 per cent.

Delighted head teacher Ellen Humphries said: “It’s a whole school effort. Everyone worked extremely hard to accelerate children’s learning across the school so this is sustainable.

“We’ve used powerful children’s literature as a vehicle, not only for reading but for teaching all subjects.

“And children’s experiences are a vital part of that learning process. We’ve put in lots of trips and visits, and done a lot of work on assessments for learning so that marking and feedback is frequent and indepth.”

An impressive eight schools have made it into the country’s top 200 most improved, which compares figures from 2011 and 2008, where results have risen each year.

Three of those – St Mary’s CoE and Bassett Green primaries in Southampton, and Gosport’s Woodcot Primary – are in the top 20.

The proportion of St Mary’s pupils leaving with the benchmark core subject grades has gone from 23 per cent in 2008 to 77 per cent this year, while Bassett Green saw a 45 percentage point jump to 79 per cent.

Other schools in the top 200 were Sinclair Primary and Fairisle Junior i n Southampton, Norwood Primary in Eastleigh, and Kings Worthy Primary and Itchen Abbas Primary, both near Winchester.

Elsewhere, Hythe Primary recorded a 33 percentage point increase in level four maths and English attainment this year, which was up to 93 per cent.

Head Simon Mitchell-Innes said he was “extremely pleased” with the results, which have come through changed outlooks among pupils, providing “outstanding teaching” and further developing relationships with parents.

He said: “We’re working hard to improve our standards across the school.

“Over the last few years we’ve improved children’s attitudes to learning and tried to make them a lot more responsible for their learning.”

Other notable year-on-year improvements included Droxford Junior and Cheriton Primary, which both saw their proportion of pupils gaining the benchmark jump from 73 per cent in 2010 to 100 per cent this year.

There were also ten percentage point rises at Bursledon Junior and St John the Baptist CoE Primary in Titchfield Common, to 75 per cent and 81 per cent respectively.

And five of our schools have seen their impressive results earn them places in the elite list of the best performers in the country.

St Swithun Wells Catholic Primary in Chandler’s Ford, St Peter’s Catholic Primary and St Faith’s CoE Primary in Winchester, Sparsholt CoE Primary and Western Downland CoE Aided Primary all saw every pupil gain the benchmark level four in both maths and English.

However, one school – Oak Meadow CoE Controlled Primary in Fareham – has been named in the bottom 200 nationally after just 33 per cent of pupils made the grade in the core subjects.

The Tewkesbury Avenue school also featured in the list of the 200 worst-performing schools in the country for the progress made between Key Stages 1 and 2.

Southampton’s education boss, Cllr Jeremy Moulton, last night paid tribute to all involved in achieving the city’s results.

He said: “Southampton’s much-improved position in this year’s Key Stage 2 national league table results represents more good news for our children, our schools and for the city as a whole, demonstrating beyond doubt that all the hard work that has been going on in our schools in the last few years is paying off.

“Our goal is for Southampton to be a city with learning at its very heart, where every school is a good school, providing excellent education for all our children and young people. With today’s news it’s clear we’re making good progress towards this.”

Cllr Roy Perry, who runs Hampshire’s schools, said: “Taking the results as a whole they are good news and further evidence of the strong focus that Hampshire schools are putting on making sure that all children raise their ambitions and have the opportunity to fulfil their potential in these important primary years to prepare them for their secondary school education.”