THIRTEEN of the smallest Church of England Primary Schools in Devon are among the county’s top 20 schools listed in the government’s latest league tables.

The tables rank primary schools on performance in reading, writing and maths tests taken by 11 year olds. The league tables in England are based on the percentage of children gaining Level 4 – the standard expected for their age – in all three subjects and the top schools in Devon achieved the ‘perfect score’ with all children reaching this level or above.

Diocese of Exeter Schools Officer Richard Maudsley said: “We are truly thrilled with the hard work of our teachers and staff in our schools, many of whom are working in our very small schools.

"It is a credit to those wonderful tiny schools, so often under threat, and shows what great work they are doing.”

Devon has one of the highest proportions of small schools – predominately in rural areas – in the country.

Many of the top schools have just a handful of pupils in each year group. The highest performing school in Devon, Uplowman near Tiverton, had just six pupils sitting the tests.

Steven Badcott has been the Head teacher at Uplowman CofE School for two and half years and is very pleased that his small school with just 61 pupils is included in the top 20. He said: “This is a great result for Devon’s schools. For our school I am really pleased because it reflects so well on the hard work of staff and that particular group of children that produced such excellent results which resulted in the 11th best Average Point Score (APS) in England.”