Peterborough bottom of latest education tables

In 2018 52 per cent the 2,829 pupils achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. The national average in England was 64 per cent.

The 52 per cent is the same score as the results last year, when Peterborough finished 149th out of 150. The second lowest scoring authority was the Isle of Wight, where 54 per cent of pupils hit the expected standard.

In Cambridgeshire, 61 per cent of youngsters hit the standard.

This year the authority sits 149th out of 149 authorities to declare their results - figures for Bedford have not been included in the data because 'there are known changes to the data after publication.' The City of London and The Isles of Scilly do not declare due to low school numbers.

The tables, released by the Department for Education, show 49 per cent of boys in Peterborough and 55 per cent of girls in the city hit the expected standard. Both of these are the lowest figures in the country.

The statistics also show 65 per cent of pupils hit the expected target in reading, 70 per cent in spelling, punctuation and grammar, and 66 per cent in maths.

These figures are an improvement from last year's totals, when 63 per cent hit the expected figure in reading, 70 per cent in spelling, punctuation and grammar, although 68 per cent hit the target in maths in 2017.

The 2018 figure for reading is the lowest in the country, the figure for spelling, punctuation and grammar is the equal lowest in the country, alongside Norfolk and the Isle of Wight, and the figure for maths is the lowest alongside the Isle of Wight.