Earlier this year, I produced a report looking at the changes in pupil teacher ratios over the past fifty years as between London boroughs and the rest of England’s local authorities that have remained on the same boundaries since 1974. London boroughs generally have had some of the ‘best’ PTRs throughout the past 50 years. As a result, it was no surprise to see how well schools in the London boroughs performed in the KS2 results for 2025, published by the DfE yesterday.
It is interesting to look at just one measure, the percentage of pupils achieving the higher standard in Reading, and the percentage change in this measure over the past decade or so.
| 2015/16 | 2024/25 | ||
| higher | higher | difference | |
| LA | Reading | Reading | |
| Waltham Forest | 15% | 44% | 29% |
| Redbridge | 19% | 45% | 26% |
| Westminster | 18% | 43% | 25% |
| Haringey | 20% | 43% | 23% |
| Newham | 18% | 41% | 23% |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | 24% | 46% | 22% |
| Luton | 11% | 33% | 22% |
| Merton | 22% | 44% | 22% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 15% | 37% | 22% |
| Enfield | 15% | 37% | 22% |
| Sutton | 25% | 47% | 22% |
| Hackney | 21% | 42% | 21% |
| Brent | 16% | 37% | 21% |
| Barnet | 24% | 44% | 20% |
| Bexley | 20% | 40% | 20% |
| Lewisham | 19% | 39% | 20% |
| Southwark | 19% | 39% | 20% |
| Slough | 19% | 39% | 20% |
| Tower Hamlets | 18% | 38% | 20% |
| Birmingham | 14% | 34% | 20% |
| Leicester | 11% | 31% | 20% |
| Trafford | 27% | 47% | 20% |
| Solihull | 20% | 39% | 19% |
| Hillingdon | 19% | 38% | 19% |
| Ealing | 18% | 37% | 19% |
| Wolverhampton | 14% | 33% | 19% |
| Barnsley | 13% | 32% | 19% |
| Thurrock | 13% | 32% | 19% |
| Doncaster | 11% | 30% | 19% |
| Camden | 23% | 42% | 19% |
| Greenwich | 22% | 41% | 19% |
| Croydon | 17% | 36% | 19% |
| Richmond upon Thames | 36% | 54% | 18% |
| Kingston upon Hull, City of | 15% | 33% | 18% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 30% | 48% | 18% |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 13% | 31% | 18% |
| Walsall | 13% | 31% | 18% |
| Knowsley | 12% | 30% | 18% |
| North East Lincolnshire | 11% | 29% | 18% |
| Lambeth | 23% | 40% | 17% |
| Stockport | 22% | 39% | 17% |
| Warrington | 21% | 38% | 17% |
| Stockton-on-Tees | 16% | 33% | 17% |
| Bromley | 27% | 44% | 17% |
| Wandsworth | 25% | 42% | 17% |
| Harrow | 24% | 41% | 17% |
| Milton Keynes | 19% | 36% | 17% |
| Sandwell | 13% | 30% | 17% |
Leaving aside the City of London, with its one primary school that has been excluded form the dataset, 28 of the London boroughs appear in the table. This compares with 20 local authorities outside of London. None of the latter are ‘shire’ counties. Not even the Home Counties of Surrey or Hertfordshire make it into the list.
Looking at the other end of the table, there is a preponderance of counties authorities in the list
| Tameside | 15% | 28% | 13% |
| Southend-on-Sea | 20% | 33% | 13% |
| South Gloucestershire | 20% | 33% | 13% |
| Telford and Wrekin | 19% | 32% | 13% |
| St. Helens | 18% | 31% | 13% |
| Rochdale | 14% | 27% | 13% |
| Portsmouth | 14% | 27% | 13% |
| Blackpool | 13% | 26% | 13% |
| Oldham | 13% | 26% | 13% |
| Rutland | 23% | 36% | 13% |
| Cheshire East | 22% | 35% | 13% |
| Cambridgeshire | 22% | 35% | 13% |
| Lancashire | 17% | 30% | 13% |
| Bedford | 16% | 29% | 13% |
| Cheshire West and Chester | 22% | 34% | 12% |
| Havering | 22% | 34% | 12% |
| Herefordshire, County of | 21% | 33% | 12% |
| Nottingham | 15% | 27% | 12% |
| Gateshead | 20% | 32% | 12% |
| Cornwall | 20% | 32% | 12% |
| Torbay | 20% | 32% | 12% |
| East Sussex | 19% | 31% | 12% |
| South Tyneside | 18% | 30% | 12% |
| Derbyshire | 18% | 30% | 12% |
| Suffolk | 18% | 30% | 12% |
| Swindon | 18% | 30% | 12% |
| Derby | 14% | 26% | 12% |
| Warwickshire | 23% | 35% | 12% |
| Oxfordshire | 23% | 35% | 12% |
| Gloucestershire | 23% | 35% | 12% |
| Southampton | 17% | 29% | 12% |
| Hampshire | 23% | 34% | 11% |
| Devon | 23% | 34% | 11% |
| Bristol, City of | 22% | 33% | 11% |
| North Somerset | 22% | 33% | 11% |
| Lincolnshire | 17% | 28% | 11% |
| Central Bedfordshire | 17% | 28% | 11% |
| County Durham | 20% | 31% | 11% |
| Calderdale | 20% | 31% | 11% |
| Shropshire | 20% | 31% | 11% |
| Sefton | 18% | 29% | 11% |
| Norfolk | 18% | 29% | 11% |
| East Riding of Yorkshire | 18% | 28% | 10% |
| Wiltshire | 23% | 33% | 10% |
| Darlington | 22% | 32% | 10% |
| West Berkshire | 25% | 34% | 9% |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 27% | 36% | 9% |
| Brighton and Hove | 26% | 35% | 9% |
| Northumberland | 21% | 29% | 8% |
| Isle of Wight | 16% | 23% | 7% |
Even among the unitary authorities in the list, some, such as the East riding of Yorkshire and West Berkshire might be considered predominantly rural in nature.
So, what might be deduced from this data? Parental help does make a difference. Has the ‘gentrification’ of Walthamstow help propel it to the top of the table? To consider the issue of parental support versus government funding for schools it is worth considering the present percentage of achievement at this higher grade by schools in two parliamentary constituencies that I am familiar with; Tottenham, where I started my teaching career, and Oxford East, part of the city where I have lived and worked for the past 45 years.
| SCHOOL Higher Grade RWM in KS” 2025 | TOTENHAM | OXFORD EAST |
| A | 35 | |
| B | 27 | |
| C | 23 | |
| D | 18 | 18 |
| E | 17 | 17 |
| F | 15 | |
| G | 15 | |
| H | 15 | |
| I | 14 | 14 |
| J | 13 | 13 |
| K | 13 | 13 |
| L | 13 | |
| M | 12 | |
| N | 11 | 11 |
| O | 10 | 10 |
| P | 9 | 9 |
| Q | 9 | |
| R | 8 | |
| S | 8 | |
| T | 7 | 7 |
| U | 7 | 7 |
| V | 7 | 7 |
| W | 7 | 7 |
| X | 6 | |
| Y | 6 | |
| Z | 5 | 5 |
| AA | 5 | |
| AB | 5 | |
| AC | 4 | 4 |
| AD | 4 | 4 |
| AE | 3 | 3 |
| AF | 3 | |
| AG | 2 | 3 |
| AH | 2 | |
| AI | 2 | |
| AJ | 0 | 0 |
| AK | 0 | |
| total | 322 | 193 |
| schools | 28 | 27 |
| average | 11.5 | 7.1 |
Both might be seen as constituencies with significant pockets of deprivation, but also areas subject to ‘gentrification’ in recent years. Schools in Oxford East have a profile with lower percentages than schools in Tottenham. How much of the difference can be ascribed to parents, and how much to better funding for London schools? Of course, class sizes also matter. But, as both are urban areas, the issue of small rural schools doesn’t really arise as it would if one compared Oxford East with its neighbouring constituency of Henley.
This work is at an early stage, but it does pose the question about the deep structure of school funding and, especially, the use of average salary data in any calculations in the funding of schools.
John Howson 