Hammersmith & Fulham primary pupils are 26 percentage points more likely to meet KS2 expected standards than those in Portsmouth—a gap that has widened since the pandemic
Nationally, 61% of primary pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2023/24. That figure, up from 60% the previous year, masks enormous variation across local authorities. In the highest-performing areas, more than three quarters of children hit the benchmark. In the lowest, barely half do.
The gap between the best and worst local authorities stands at 26.5 percentage points—a divide that has real consequences for the children on either side of it.
The top 10: London dominates
Nine of the ten highest-performing local authorities are in London. Hammersmith & Fulham leads the country with 77.4% of pupils meeting the expected standard—16 percentage points above the national average and up sharply from 73.0% the year before.
Richmond upon Thames follows at 76.2%, and Newham is third at 75.0%. The only non-London authority in the top ten is Trafford in Greater Manchester, which sits just outside this list at 71.1%.
| # | Local Authority | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hammersmith & Fulham | 77.4% | 73.0% | +4.4pp |
| 2 | Richmond upon Thames | 76.2% | 74.1% | +2.1pp |
| 3 | Newham | 75.0% | 70.2% | +4.8pp |
| 4 | Redbridge | 74.8% | 70.5% | +4.3pp |
| 5 | Kensington & Chelsea | 73.8% | 74.0% | -0.2pp |
| 6 | Hackney | 73.7% | 70.0% | +3.7pp |
| 7 | Barnet | 72.3% | 70.4% | +1.9pp |
| 8 | Camden | 72.2% | 69.4% | +2.8pp |
| 9 | Waltham Forest | 71.5% | 67.6% | +3.9pp |
| 10 | Westminster | 71.1% | 69.6% | +1.5pp |
What makes this ranking remarkable is the deprivation profile of many top performers. Newham, Hackney, and Waltham Forest rank among the most deprived boroughs in England, yet their KS2 results consistently outperform affluent areas outside London. In Hackney, 64% of disadvantaged pupils meet the expected standard—higher than the overall rate in most of the bottom-performing authorities.
This is the "London effect" in action: a combination of sustained investment in teaching quality, high expectations, diverse school ecosystems, and strong local authority support that has driven primary attainment well above the national average for over a decade.
The bottom 10: coastal and rural areas struggle
At the other end of the scale, Portsmouth records the lowest rate in England at 50.9%. The Isle of Wight is close behind at 51.2%, followed by Norfolk at 52.1% and Blackpool at 52.7%.
| # | Local Authority | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Portsmouth | 50.9% | 48.2% | +2.7pp |
| 2 | Isle of Wight | 51.2% | 53.8% | -2.6pp |
| 3 | Norfolk | 52.1% | 52.4% | -0.3pp |
| 4 | Blackpool | 52.7% | 53.1% | -0.4pp |
| 5 | Central Bedfordshire | 53.6% | 51.9% | +1.7pp |
| 6 | Wirral | 53.7% | 56.2% | -2.5pp |
| 7 | Oldham | 54.0% | 53.7% | +0.3pp |
| 8 | Cumberland | 54.0% | 54.7% | -0.7pp |
| 9 | Dorset | 54.3% | 52.8% | +1.5pp |
| 10 | Sheffield | 54.8% | 55.0% | -0.2pp |
A clear pattern emerges: the lowest-performing areas tend to be coastal towns, rural counties, and post-industrial areas outside the major metropolitan centres. Portsmouth, despite being a city, shares the recruitment and retention challenges typical of coastal areas—difficulty attracting experienced teachers, higher staff turnover, and fewer training opportunities compared to London.
Several of these authorities also saw results decline year-on-year. The Isle of Wight dropped 2.6 percentage points, Wirral fell 2.5 points, and Blackpool slipped 0.4 points. While the national trend is upward, not every area is following it.
The national recovery: slow but steady
The pandemic dealt a significant blow to KS2 attainment. From 65% meeting the expected standard in 2018/19, the rate fell to 59% when assessments returned in 2021/22. Recovery has been gradual: 60% in 2022/23, 61% in 2023/24, and the latest DfE data shows 62% in 2024/25.
At this pace, it will take until at least 2027 for national attainment to return to pre-pandemic levels—and that assumes continued year-on-year improvement.
The disadvantage gap persists
Across England, 46% of disadvantaged pupils met the expected standard in 2023/24, compared to 67% of their non-disadvantaged peers—a 21-percentage-point gap that has remained stubbornly unchanged since assessments returned after the pandemic.
What the London data shows, however, is that this gap is not inevitable. In Hackney, disadvantaged pupils achieve 64.4%. In Newham, they reach 69.5%—higher than the non-disadvantaged national average. These figures suggest that the right combination of school-level practices and local authority strategy can dramatically narrow the attainment gap, even in areas of significant deprivation.
What this means for parents
If you are choosing a primary school, the local authority your child attends in makes a measurable difference to their likelihood of meeting expected standards by the end of Year 6. But the data also shows that high deprivation does not have to mean low attainment. The London boroughs at the top of this table prove that context is not destiny—and the practices that work there deserve to be studied and replicated elsewhere.
Explore primary schools in the highest-performing areas like Hammersmith & Fulham, Newham, and Hackney, or search for schools in areas working to close the gap like Portsmouth and Sheffield.
About This Data
Department for Education, Key Stage 2 attainment: National curriculum assessments at Key Stage 2, 2023/24. Local authority figures are pupil-weighted averages calculated from school-level data.