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Primary school will likely be the place your child hits many important milestones - from reading their first chapter book, to making lifelong friends.
What they learn there will also form the bedrock of the rest of their education, which is why it is so important to send them to a primary school that can instil in them the key skills they will need to succeed. But in a region as vast as Yorkshire families will frequently find they have multiple excellent schools nearby, each with their own pros and cons.
We’ve already ranked Yorkshire’s best primary schools overall, but to further narrow it down we’ve also created a league table for West Yorkshire’s state primary schools. It is based on the percentage of their pupils who completed the national curriculum’s key stage 2 (Year 6) in the 2022-23 school year - the most recent data currently available - and met the government’s expected standards for reading, writing and maths. We’ve selected only schools which surpassed both the national and local authority area’s averages, those with the very highest scores.
In addition to that, all schools on the list also had an overall Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ before this measure was dropped last month, meaning the quality of education provided, student behaviour and attitudes, school leadership and management, and student safeguarding were all been found to meet or exceed government standards the last time the school was inspected.
Many smaller village and community schools stood out from the pack, claiming plenty of top spots. But equally, larger schools in centres like Leeds and Bradford - with many more students to get past the goal posts - have managed to excel.
Here were the 24 primary schools from across West Yorkshire that topped the chart:
We’ve already ranked Yorkshire’s best primary schools overall, but to further narrow it down we’ve also created a league table for West Yorkshire’s state primary schools. It is based on the percentage of their pupils who completed the national curriculum’s key stage 2 (Year 6) in the 2022-23 school year - the most recent data currently available - and met the government’s expected standards for reading, writing and maths. We’ve selected only schools which surpassed both the national and local authority area’s averages, those with the very highest scores.
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21. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Bingley)
St Joseph’s is a Catholic primary school in Bingley. It was formerly rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. In the 2022/23 school year, 87% of its pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to 57% locally and 60% nationally. | Google
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22. St Joseph's Catholic Primary School (Wetherby)
Just like its similarly-named counterpart, St Joseph’s is a Catholic primary school - this one in Wetherby. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. In the 2022/23 school year, 87% of its pupils also met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to 58% locally and 60% nationally. | Google
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23. The Greetland Academy
This is a primary school in the village of Greetland, just south of Halifax. It was formerly rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted. In the 2022/23 school year, 87% of its pupils once again met the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to 60% both locally and nationally. | Charles Round/National World
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24. West End Primary School
Rounding out the list is West End Primary School in Horsforth, formerly rated ‘good’ by Ofsted. In the 2022/23 school year, it also had 87% of its pupils meet the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared to 58% locally and 60% nationally. | Google