by Martin Jefferies

More than a quarter of primary school children in Kent are still failing to meet the expected level in reading, writing and arithmetic.

Results for Key Stage 2 tests – so-called SATs – taken by children aged 10 and 11 have been published by the Department for Education today.

They show 72% of youngsters are achieving Level 4 in English and maths – up from 70% last year and 68% the year before but lower than the national average of 74%.

Only 11 schools in the county saw all their pupils achieve the expected level in both subjects.

And the figures show that, excluding independent and special schools, around one in seven of the county's primaries – a total of 70 – failed to reach the government's target for 60% of all pupils to reach Level 4 in English and maths combined.

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In Medway, 16 schools are below that figure. Around two-thirds of pupils in the district achieve Level 4 in both English and maths.

Schools minister Nick Gibb said: "The seven years of primary school are key to establishing the building blocks of a child's education, particularly in reading, writing and arithmetic.

"Today's figures reveal on a school-by-school basis the high academic standards achieved by thousands of primary schools in this country.

"But 1,310 schools are today shown to be below the floor – and about 150 have been languishing with poor standards for five years in a row.

"It's these schools that we'll pay particular attention to in the year ahead."

Kent's most improved school is Brookland Primary School in Romney Marsh, which saw the number of pupils achieving Level 4 in English and maths jump from 44% to 87% – a rise of 43% in just one year.

The biggest drop in the number of children achieving the expected level in both subjects was at Rolvenden Primary School in Cranbrook – down from 80% in 2010 to 25% this year.

The year-on-year comparisons are not possible for every school in Kent because some boycotted the Key Stage 2 tests in 2010.