A PRIMARY school has been praised for helping disadvantaged pupils progress.

School standards minister Nick Gibb has praised St Patrick's Roman Catholic Primary School, in Thornaby, for the way it has helped disadvantaged pupils learn the basics.

At the school, part of the Our Lady of Light Catholic Academy Trust, those pupils have made greater strides than the national average.

Data published by the Department of Education shows they achieved better than average progress following this year's Key Stage 2 tests, commonly known as SATs, and overall the attainment gap was narrowing.

School Standards Minister Nick Gibb said his aim was to help ensure all children, regardless of background, had a good grasp of English and maths by the end of primary school.

“These statistics show that St Patrick’s... is helping to achieve this aim by successfully ensuring that its pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds make better progress in primary school than the national average."