THIS year's performance tables show that since 1998, about 84,000 more 11 year olds are achieving the expected level of their age in maths and around 60,000 more are doing so in English.

A spokesman for the Department for Education and Science said: "Performance tables are an important part of our strategy to drive up standards in schools. We firmly believe that the regime of public accountability, which performance tables support, has helped to reinforce our drive to raise standards by sharpening the focus on outcomes.

"Parental demand brought about the introduction of the primary tables, because tables provide the only easily accessible source of comparative performance information on schools.

"Nevertheless, we are clear that parents should form their view about school performance using as wide a range of information as possible, including that set out in the tables, in school prospectuses and annual reports and in OFSTED inspection reports.

"We expect parents to use their knowledge of the local context of schools and we also strongly recommend that parents should visit schools before making up their mind about which might be suitable for their children."

Junior education minister Stephen Twigg congratulated teachers and pupils on the figures.

He said they were the best ever results in tests for primary school children in the key subjects of English and maths.

This was despite the Government missing its own "highly ambitious targets".

He added: "It gives me great pleasure to congratulate pupils and staff in primary schools on all that's been achieved.

"These are overall best ever results in key stage two, representing real progress in literacy and numeracy."

This year the Government missed its maths and English primary test targets but the failure did not overshadow the publication of the league tables, Mr Twigg said.

Since 1997 the proportion of children reaching the required standard in English had increased from 63% to 75% and in maths from 62% to 73%.

The Government's own target for maths was 75% and 80% for English.

The minister said the results represented "a very significant advance in both these subjects but we need to do even better.

"Our expectations of young people in primary schools today remains very very high.

"We would have been pleased to have hit the targets. These are the best ever results. We set highly ambitious targets that we did not quite reach."

The minister added that children sitting tests this year were getting considerably better marks than three or four years ago.