More than 2,000 secondary school students in the county fail to meet the grade

Key Stage 2 results for the 11-year-olds who took their SATs in May show that 33 per cent did not achieve the required score in their tests - 2,009 children in all.

That’s an attainment rate of 67 per cent - higher than the national average of 64 per cent.

This year, 6,087 Year 6 pupils took the tests, which are intended to measure how well a child is doing in three key subjects - reading, mathematics and grammar.

They are also used to evaluate how well primary schools are preparing their pupils for secondary school.

Girls did slightly better than boys, with 71 per cent of girls meeting the standard compared to 63 per cent of boys.

But campaign group More than a Score says that schools looking to climb league tables focus too much on high SAT scores, and that SATs have “failed a generation of children”.

It says that younger children, who can get anxious taking a test, should be assessed in a less stressful way.

During Year 6, students are also evaluated separately by their teachers in reading, writing, science and maths. These assessments provide a broader picture of how well children are doing at school.

Children in Warwickshire did much better in KS2 teacher assessments than in the tests. They did best in science, where 85 per cent of pupils met the required standard, and worst in maths, where 79 per cent of pupils made the grade.

More than a Score spokesperson Madeleine Holt said: “A snapshot assessment of four years of academic work is likely to be intrinsically limited in what it tells you about a child.”