Lewisham had the highest proportion of five-year-olds achieving a good level of development in 2017, according to standards set by the Department for Education.

More than 78.9 per cent of pupils reached standards in the early years assessment, compared to the 69 per cent average in England.

The department benchmark for children with a “good level of development” is to achieve the minimum expected level in five of the seven areas assessed.

These are personal, social and emotional development, physical development, communication and language, mathematics and literacy.

The subject where most pupils met the minimum expected score in Lewisham was physical development – with 90.5 per cent of pupils hitting the mark.

The lowest level of achievement was in literacy – with 77.5 per cent of pupils meeting the Government’s minimum expected mark.

This is still above the national average of 72.8 per cent.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said early results for this year showed improvement in literacy.

These newer figures show 79.4 per cent of pupils reaching the minimum expected level for literacy against a national average of 73.3 per cent.

The topic where children improved their success rate the most was understanding of the world.

About 88.3 per cent met the level required, up from 82.4 per cent in 2016.

A total of 3,758 pupils were evaluated in Lewisham in 2017 – 1,867 girls and 1,891 boys.

The average mark across all the areas assessed was 33.3, out of a possible 51.

In England, the average mark was 34.5 in 2017.

Girls in Lewisham performed better than boys, scoring 1.2 points more.

Cabinet member for school performance Cllr Chris Barnham said: “This is excellent news. The importance of these results can’t be underestimated – when children do well early in life, it sets a pattern of lifelong learning and achievement.

“My congratulations to the schools, parents and, most importantly, the children themselves.”