PRIMARY schools across the region are celebrating after better results than ever in the controversial SAT exams taken by children at the end of primary education.

In York, the provisional results issued by the Department for Education show that across the board, York’s primary schoolchildren performed well above the national average.

At the city’s schools, 83 per cent of children reached the required level in English – level four – with the same percentage reaching the required level at mathematics, compared with an average of 80 per cent in England and 78 per cent for the Yorkshire and Humberside region.

In North Yorkshire, 83 three per cent of the county’s primary schoolchildren reached the required standard in English and 81 per cent in mathematics.

In the East Riding, 83 per cent of pupils achieved the required level four or above in English, while in mathematics 82.2 per cent of pupils achieved level four or above.