Literacy levels among the district’s children have leapt forward according to new Sats results for this year’s primary school leavers.

Provisional tables from the Department for Education show the percentage of pupils making expected progress in English has jumped from 81 per cent in 2009 to 91 per cent this year.

This improvement in reading and writing outperforms the national trend, which showed an average rise from 81 per cent to 89 per cent over that same period.

Bradford district pupils making similar progress in maths increased from 80 to 87 per cent at the same time.

Those who achieved the benchmark level four or above in English and maths combined went from 68 per cent to 75 per cent in those three years.

Coun Ralph Berry, executive member for children’s services, praised the district’s teachers, schools and children for their efforts.

He said: “These are the best key stage two results Bradford primary schools have ever recorded. I am also really pleased to see the progress Bradford pupils are making in English as this is vital to a successful education.”

Some 542,500 children took the Sats tests nationally with girls statistically out-performing boys in all categories.

In Yorkshire, Calderdale posted the best combined results in English and maths with 83 per cent achieving at least level four, while Rotherham was at the bottom with 73 per cent. Bradford tied with Sheffield for seventh place out of 12 Yorkshire education authorities.

These figures will be amended when the final results for England are released at the end of the year when percentages could go up or down.