A BARROW school has been named as one of England’s top state primaries.

Yarlside Academy has placed 38 in a list of 250 state primary schools in England by The Sunday Times, making it one of just two Cumbrian schools to make the list.

The Sunday Times said it had ranked schools by aggregated average scaled scores achieved by children in reading, grammar and maths in SATS exams taken in 2018.

Headteacher Janine Pierce said: “I think that it’s a fantastic achievement and it is all down to the dedication and commitment of the school team.

“We prioritise the children’s development when they start with us at age three.

“I think it’s all down to the opportunities and experiences that the children are given.

“The children are given a number of opportunities, even down to sport where we have seen a lot of successes.”

She added: “We incorporate a lot, it’s not all about the test results.

“Everything we take part in, we try hard in.

“It’s all down to the experience that we give them.”

A school in Egremont, Bookwell Primary School, was the only other school in Cumbria to reach the top 250, managing to achieve rank 18.

Alan Smithers, writing in the article accompanying the tables, said: “The latest Sunday Times rankings contain a number of surprises.

“They show that results are continuing to improve in the 500 leading primary schools. Another surprise is that state-funded primaries are doing better than many of the rump of prep schools.

“Prep schools do not have to take SATS, but about 150 choose to do so and the results of the leading 75 prep schools are published in Parent Power, released to the public using a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Education.”