Primary school test results 'miss targets'

Ministers face a critical hurdle today with the publication of primary school test results.

Surveys suggest they are likely to show only a slight improvement at best, with government targets for the literacy and numeracy of 11-yearolds still not being met.

A survey of schools in one in four education authorities suggests that English scores have improved slightly, for the first time in four years, with a rise of one percentage point in the proportion of 11-year-olds hitting the level of achievement expected for their age.

But that only brings the figure up to 76 per cent, below a target set by former education secretary David Blunkett of 80 per cent by 2002.

In maths, the survey, carried out by the Times Educational Supplement, suggests the score has stalled at 73 per cent, still short of a 75 per cent target.