Borat cultural learnings make better than in UK

ENGLAND has been beaten by Kazakhstan in a new international league table for education.

Children's Secretary Ed Balls said England was climbing the world rankings for maths and science results.

But the study found 10-year-olds in the land made famous by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat were better at maths than English pupils.

Critics said Kazakhstan's success showed the "joke's on us".

Shadow children's secretary Michael Gove said: "Parents will be worried that our maths performance is behind that of Kazakhstan.

"It hardly gives confidence that we will compete in the hard subjects that count when countries with all Kazakhstan's disadvantages are outstripping ours."

Dr Tony Gardner, director of the UK Mathematics Foundation, said pupils were being put off the subject by an endless diet of tests.

He criticised the numeracy strategy in primary schools for failing to teach general maths skills.

He said: "Secondary school pupils can only do what is on the test these days, which is frightening."

The findings came in a major report by Boston College in the US, conducted across the world every four years.

Mr Balls welcomed the report, and said Britain's teenagers were "leading Europe" in maths and science.

Education experts voiced caution over the findings.

Professor Alan Smithers, from Buckingham University, said countries such as Finland and Canada were not included in the latest rankings.