Huge gulf in school standards revealed

STARTLING VARIATIONS in standards in primary schools in England are revealed in league tables published today.

While in 27 schools every 11-year-old achieved the expected standard in national tests in English, maths and science, in the worst school only 15 per cent did so in English and 4 per cent in maths.

Standards also differed widely between local authorities, with fewer than half the pupils in the worst local education authority - Nottingham - achieving the required level in English and maths compared with around three-quarters in Richmond upon Thames. Nottingham, which lags behind others with inner-city schools, acknowledged yesterday that expectations of pupils in some schools may have been too low.

Even within schools, the tables highlight surprising differences. In several schools in the bottom 50, three times as many pupils are reaching the required level in English as in maths, in others vice versa. The tables, covering more than 14,000 schools and nearly 600,000 pupils, suggest that the Government's drive to raise standards will prove challenging.

In English, 64 per cent reached the required standard, up 1 per cent. For maths, the figure was 58 per cent - down 4 per cent - and for science it remained at 69 per cent. Ministers say that by 2002 they will rise to 80 per cent in English and 75 per cent in maths.

David Blunkett, the Secretary of State for Education, said he was confident that new literacy and numeracy hours in primary schools would ensure that the targets were met.

"The tables are important in our drive to raise standards. They help schools monitor progress and set targets for improvement," he said. He pointed out that just under 1,000 schools had proved that consistent improvement was possible since the tables were first published three years ago.

Headteachers complain that the tables are unfair because a school may forfeit its 100 per cent score if a single pupil is away sick.

Only two schools have a perfect score in all three subjects over the three years: St Michael's Bamford Church of England school, in Heywood, Rochdale, and Shenington Church of England School, near Banbury. Five achieved the top score both last year and this. More than half the top 27 schools have fewer than 15 pupils eligible to take the tests and nearly half are church schools.

Burnt Tree School in Sandwell, West Midlands, declared failing by inspectors, had the lowest combined score for the three subjects. The authority said that the class had had three different teachers last year and 35 per cent of children had long periods of absence in foreign countries.

A spokesman for Cheshire County Council said that the case of Neston St Mary's school, which came in the bottom 10, was "a prime example of how misleading these tables are". Twelve of the 16 eligible pupils last year had special needs and the school was proud of their achievement.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "The tables show that the Government's targets have been set unrealistically high. They seem to have been plucked out of thin air rather than being based on what is achievable in the time allowed."

David Willetts, the Tory spokesman for education, said: "The Government's own policies are one of the reasons why schools are having difficulty reaching targets. It has sent out 322 directives and documents this year, distracting teachers from raising standards.

"The trouble with the literacy strategy is that it is being applied indiscriminately. If a school is doing well we do not need to inquire into what is going on in the classroom. There is insufficient back-up, materials and support for schools where there is a problem."

He said the tables were published too late to be useful for parents, adding: "Before the election, Labour promised to publish the information before Christmas."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the tables could be the basis for unfair attacks by school governors or local education authorities on the career prospects of heads in challenging schools.

Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said: "There is no need for this monstrous bureaucratic exercise. There are better ways of raising standards which do not demoralise disadvantaged schools in depressed areas."