YOUNGSTERS in the town will be feeling top of the class as the latest key stage two results have placed them in the top 10 per cent in the country.

The exams, taken in May by 11-year-olds, saw 84 per cent of children in Warrington achieving the expected Level 4 grade.

It places the town as joint 12th best in England for reading, writing and maths.

Cllr Jean Carter, executive board member for children’s services, says the results reflect the hard work of children as well as the 'increasingly high standards of teaching, learning and support' provided by schools.

She added: “The results for this summer are fantastic yet again.

"We are extremely proud of all the local children who have made such a good start in their education and I hope they will continue to enjoy learning and do even better as they move into their high school education.”

On top of the majority of pupils passing their exams at the 'expected' level, 27 per cent of children in Warrington also exceeded expected grades in all three exams.

An increase in the levels of development of children in nursery education has also been recorded in the town with 68 per cent of children achieving a good level of development at the end of their reception year.

A council spokesman says the figure exceeds north west and England statistics and follows improvements last year where there was a 15 per cent increase in results.

Nationally, four out of five pupils (80 per cent) achieved the expected Level 4 in reading, writing and maths.

The highest ever percentage of pupils reach the expected level in maths in 2015 while the proportion of children reaching the reading standard by the end of primary school remains at an all-time high.

Statistics may soon change however as a 'more rigorous' national curriculum came into effect in September 2014 which means from summer 2016, pupils will be assessed against a higher standard and given a scaled score where 100 will represent the expected standard.