THE number of five-year-olds in Bradford achieving a good level of development has risen.

In early years assessments last year, 67.6 per cent of pupils met standards set by the Department of Education.

This is up from 66.2 per cent in 2016, and is getting closer to the national average of 69 per cent.

The benchmark set by the Department for children to have a ‘good level of development’ is to achieve the minimum expected level in five of the seven areas assessed.

The seven areas are: personal, social and emotional development, physical development, communication and language, maths and literacy.

The evaluation is made by a child’s teacher in their final term of Reception.

The area where Bradford’s five-year-olds were strongest was in physical development, with 88.7 per cent of pupils hitting the Government target.

The weakest area was literacy, with only 75.4 per cent of pupils achieving the required standard, but literacy was the most improved area, rising by almost two per cent from 2016.

Children are marked out of a possible 51, with the average across all areas being 33.8, below the average in England of 34.5.

Girls in Bradford outperformed boys, scoring 2.5 points higher on average.

Rosamund McNeil, assistant general secretary at the National Education Union, said: “The purpose of this assessment is to gather information and help teachers plan the next stage for that child.

“Practitioners are really supportive of it and they are very worried because they feel the Government does not like it because it is not just limited to numeracy and literacy.”

On the gender gap in the scores, she added: “Gender is one of the factors, but not critical at this stage.

“You also have to take into account that 20 per cent of the kids may have some additional need and it really matters which month in the year children were born.

“Every child develops at a different pace from the age of three to 18, and that is something that everybody has to understand.”