Almost two-thirds of disadvantaged children in Buckinghamshire are underperforming at primary school level, as shocking new attainment-gap figures are revealed.

Just 38 per cent of children from poorer backgrounds hit “expected standard” in reading, writing and maths for Key Stage Two (KS2) in 2017, compared with 68 per cent of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

The 30 per cent attainment gap is eight per cent worse than the target of 22 per cent – according to a report issued by Bucks County Council (BCC).

The council has launched a project to tackle the issues of social mobility and under-achievement among children on free school meals, while funding has been secured to help schools most in need.

However service director of education at Bucks County Council, Sarah Callaghan, said the achievement gap is big because the overall attainment of Bucks pupils is above national average.

She added the external assessment process of children at Key Stage Two level – seven to 11-year-olds – is more rigorous than the internal assessments at KS3 for 11 to 14-year-olds, which widens the gap.

Speaking at a meeting of children’s social care and learning select committee this morning (March 27) Ms Callaghan said: “You do see nationally there is a clear difference of results at the end of KS2 then going into KS3 going into secondary and that is because there is an external moderation of KS2 but it is an internal process at KS3.

“So you do see when something is externally moderated it can be more rigorous so you’ll see a difference between those phases – so it is about how do we make sure we are supporting consistent moderation.

“We need to have consistency across our schools and providers to make sure we are comparing like with like.”

A total of eight per cent of children at KS2 with special educational need (SEN) or an education and health care plan reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths– which is below the target of 11 per cent.

The county council said more training and monitoring process are being implemented and a new scheme is underway to ensure children’s needs are identified as early as possible.

Cabinet member for education at BCC, Mike Appleyard, added that minimal progress is made by children at KS3 due to the varying marking processes at primary school level.

He said: “Different schools had marked things differently, had moderated differently, so you were getting different standards from different parts of the county.

“What that meant was KS3, which is the first part of secondary process, a lot of the work there was bringing all people to the same standard.”