THE number of primary schools in Bury judged to be good or outstanding has fallen dramatically — but the number of secondary schools being marked at the top grades was among the best.

The borough has been singled out in Ofsted's Annual Report 2016/17 after the proportion of primary schools in marked as one or two declined by six percentage points — the biggest fall among authorities in the North West — compared with the same position in 2016.

The borough was the third worst in the North West with just 87 per cent of schools achieving the top Ofsted grades. This is compared to the national average of 90 per cent and North West average of 92 per cent.

The report states: "For primary schools, just over nine out of 10 in the region were judged to be good or outstanding, a slight reduction compared with August 2016 figures. Warrington had 99 per cent of their primary schools judged good or outstanding compared with 83 per cent in Blackburn with Darwen. Manchester had the highest rate of improvement across the region, whereas in Bury the proportion of good or outstanding schools declined by six percentage points compared with the same position in 2016."

But the authority was at the top end of the table for the numbers of children passing their Key Stage Two national curriculum tests.

Ninety-two per cent of secondary schools were marked as good or outstanding, in line with last year. This was way above the national average of 79 per cent and regional average of 71 per cent.

Only schools in Cheshire East performed better, with 95 per cent of their schools receiving good or outstanding marks.

Bury was placed 10 out of 23 authorities based on this summer's provisional GCSE results — where 37.8 per cent of young people achieved top grades — 5-plus — in English and maths, compared to the national average of 42.4 per cent and North West average of 39.9 per cent.

Earlier this month The Bury Times revealed that the number of students achieving the top A-level grades in Bury this year was significantly lower than the national average.

Just 5.9 per cent of male students in the borough achieved 3A*-A grades, compared to a national average of 14.5 per cent.

The figures were also low for female students, of whom only 6.5 per cent managed to attain the highest grades, compared to a national average of 11.8 per cent.

Cllr Sharon Briggs, cabinet member for children and families, said: "We are always striving and committed to providing the best education for our children.

"We are still holding our own in the league tables across the country but we are supporting our schools."