EDUCATION is Thurrock Council’s “number one priority” according to the Labour portfolio holder.

In a report to the full council last night cllr Oliver Gerrish told colleagues the council should be proud of the progress made by schools across the borough recently, but said the authority was still “way short” of the level of success it aspires to.

Cllr Gerrish said: “It is clear that there is improvement throughout the education system in Thurrock and schools and pupils are to be congratulated on their efforts and attainment.

“A strong focus needs to be maintained on improving our results further, particularly at key stage one and key stage two, which lays a vital foundation for later achievement at secondary school.”

The report said progress has been made in key stage two SATS, with the number of pupils attaining the expected levels in English and maths increasing by three per cent, but the borough is still performing below the national average.

It is ranked 121 out of 152 local authorities, putting it in the bottom quartile.

However, the report said boys on free school meals, a historically low attaining group, had made “particularly strong progress” with results improving by 13 per cent.

Cllr Gerrish said performance at GCSE level is well above the national average, placing Thurrock 45th out of 152 local authorities, and performance at A-level is also good too, with 90 per cent of pupils getting three or more A-levels or equivalent, compared with 81 per cent nationally.

Tory cllr Sue MacPherson, a former education portfolio holder herself, asked exactly when cllr Gerrish expected children in the borough to exceed national targets for key stage two.

Cllr Gerrish said: “I think if we continue the rate of improvement that we’ve seen so far, in the next few years.

“I’m not going to nail my colours to the mast on this one, but I think we are talking about two to three years.”

Tory councillor Mike Revell asked if cllr Gerrish would concede that a lot of the success made at GCSE level was down to academies in the borough, and if he would encourage primary schools to go down the same route.

Cllr Gerrish said the authority was bound by “standards not structures”.

He added: “We will do whatever is best.

“I don’t think that we are bound to one route or another, we will examine schools on a case by case basis.”