School test targets 'to be missed by a mile'

Targets for 11-year-olds in English and maths are set to be missed "by a mile", the most senior civil servant at the Department for Education warned today.

In a surprising and damaging admission, he warned that the Government was set to fall "very significantly short" of its original target for raising standards of literacy and numeracy in primary schools.

He said the problem was that the drive for higher standards had now hit a plateau after big advances from 2001, when numeracy and literacy-hours were introduced. At the moment, some 75 per cent of children leave primary school reading, writing and counting well.

But the target is for this figure to be increased to 85 per cent by 2006-7, a deadline which has already been moved back once.

Mr Normington told MPs: "We are having the greatest difficulty moving it upwards."

His comments to the all-party Public Accounts committee will come as an embarrassment to both Education Secretary Charles Clarke and Tony Blair. The Prime Minister came to power with the slogan "education, education, education" and has made improving standards in primaries a major plank of his administration.

Mr Normington claimed that results in primary school tests this year would be "absolutely crucial" if the 85 per cent target was to be hit by 2006-07.

He said the department had been focusing resources on poorerperforming schools and local authorities which could provide a fresh impetus if their results got better.

Mr Normington was giving evidence to MPs on the use of the extra billions being poured by ministers into public services.