The Statistics Commission was ruling on a complaint by Prof Peter Tymms of Durham University who operated testing on behalf of schools and education authorities.

Prof Tymms' tests had not shown the rise in standards reported by the government. The commission said there was "some rise" in the national test standards between 1995 and 2000.

What do you think of the Statistics Commission's claims? What are your experiences of school standards? Send us your comments.

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:

At last an admission of what most of us in the real world can see! Bernard, UK

At last an admission of what most of us in the real world can see! I remember when I was at school (in 70s) my father was amazed at how much more advanced we were than his generation, learning things at O-level that were not even covered in A-level in his day, but when I look across a wide range of friend's and family's children now I see the opposite - even those who are very bright learn no more and in many cases less at any age than we did. There are some improvements - a better focus on inter-personal skills is common, but in terms of knowledge there is certainly no improvement.
Bernard, UK

When test results are improving it means one of three things. Either standards are rising, or teachers are focussing on passing tests rather than learning, or the tests are getting easier. Teenagers today have writing skills comparable to 6-year-olds 20 years ago. Teenagers today have trouble performing basic mental arithmetic. Go figure.
Jonny, England

Last year I retired from primary school teaching and I can honestly say that in 30 years (the last 10 spent as a Head teacher,) despite 'improved' test results there was not a huge improvement in literacy and numeracy overall. What teachers have done is to maintain and gradually improve standards despite some appalling lack of interest and support by some parents, far more children for whom English is an acquired language and finally a ridiculous increase in the amount of time and energy spent away from teaching to perform admin, e.g. marking SATs and reporting them to the DFES and LEA.

Furthermore, many children begin school far less well equipped than even 10 years ago to start learning to read and write and be numerate. Parents these days seem not to be able to get the balance between spending quality time with their offspring teaching them to be independent and decision makers , and leaving them in front of the TV/video or in poor quality nursery education. (Ruth Kelly please note that all nursery settings/pre-schools should have a qualified teacher in charge, not people with nursery nurse qualifications which fall far short of the kind of expertise needed.)
Chris, Surrey, UK

To Chris, Surrey: I wish teachers wouldn't put all parents down, I spent time with my elder children before they went to school (and many more like me do) and I also am doing it with my 3-year-old. We are not all bad parents. It's the non-important SATs that don't even reflect how good the teaching is in the school. It's all about getting a good place in the league tables (no fault of the school).

Also I am at present studying for an NVQ Level 3 in Childcare and Education. It is equivalent to two A levels and will take 18 months to two years to complete. It is a lot harder than the NNEB (I know, I did that too) before you knock nursery/pre-school teachers who also have a difficult job with children that cannot even speak English, use a toilet or are just badly behaved. The reason we have some poor nursery education is because the government won't budget properly.
JHB, Manchester

Yes, it has been overstated for a long time as it has an effect on higher education now. I am a new lecturer teaching 3rd year civil engineering. As a University policy dictates, we cannot fail students, hence I had to put marks for wrong answers and the copying of the questions. All I can say is that I do not want any of them building my house.
Anon, Bristol

It's a crying shame that we can't seem to accept that some kids just won't make the grade. There is a constant push to make everyone average or above without considering what actually makes the middle the middle. I work in a school and have recently been told to teach for the exam. When I was at school, learning was fun and I never had to worry about exams until I was 15. It is so unfair to place a measuring stick against children who may not even blossom academically until they are in their late teens. We have to find an alternative way of assessing how well a school is doing.
Holl, Cardiff

The standards of the marking might have become devalued but that is honestly what you have to do with an inclusive education system. It isn't the dumbing down that is the problem, it is the focus on "cram knowledge, sit and exam, cram knowledge, sit an exam".....that is turning children off education, which might well result in a lower quality standard overall. It is geared towards the average child who tries hard, and completely neglects the best and brightest.
Nathan James, Liverpool

Things are not perfect, but they are generally a bit better than they were 10 years ago John, England

If you don't measure educational standards, and publicise the results of those measurements, people complain that they have no idea about which schools are "good" and which are not. If you do measure, then people will complain that you're measuring the wrong things, or will argue about the way in which the measurements were made. Add to this the constant criticism of those who insist that "it was harder in my day", and you're in a no-win situation. My personal view, based on my wife's experience of working in a school, is that things are not perfect, but they are generally a bit better (and in some cases quite a lot better) than they were 10 years ago.
John, England

All education results have been "substantially overstated" so government targets can be met. How can education standards be demonstrably improved if there are so many youngsters applying for jobs who cannot even read or write. Why is it that the top 10% are now the top 50%? How can employers be expected to give credence to education results?
Chris Kisch, Milton Keynes, UK

How disgraceful to misrepresent the state of our children's education, but how typical. This is just another example of spin from New Labour.
Graham Shelton, Oxford, England

Having just had to explain the difference between there, their and they're to a recent graduate with A levels in English, Maths, Physics and History, quite frankly I'm not surprised.
Jan, Guildford, UK

I think these sorts of claims are getting harder and harder to rationalise. The children of today's world certainly can't be compared to what has gone before due to the ever changing society in which we live. Children of today can make a computer work for them to do their times tables and are also capable of finding out almost anything you ask them to by way of the internet. Ask a 10-year-old about "...:Lies, damned lies, and statistics" and I'm sure they could come back with Disraeli and Twain given five minutes and a search engine!
Steven, UK

When we now have teachers spending so much time doing 'lesson planning' that the classroom assistants are having to teach, you can be sure that the plan has gone awry. I don't need statisticians to tell me that.
Justin Rowles, Southampton, UK

What is wrong is the system which can only see value in numbers not individuals Lynn, Herts, UK

The standards have not dropped and those people on this site who say so have no idea! As others have said, you can read into statistics what you want to, they can be manipulated and coloured - either blackly or with a rose tint. What is wrong is the system which can only see value in numbers not individuals. We need well-rounded human beings not automatons!
Lynn, Herts, UK

At the risk of sounding incredibly trite, these days it is not as important to know things as it is to be able to do things. I am doing my degree right know and I realise my grasp of spelling, mathematics, geography, etc will not make a blind bit of difference when I start my career. What employers want is the ability to adapt, not reel off multiplication tables or obscure grammar rules. Whether schools are teaching skills rather than knowledge is debateable, however, but they are definitely reflecting the needs of employers. Maybe standards should not be based on levels of knowledge retention, but about pupils' ability to adapt to situations outside the classroom.
Tom, Norwich, UK

My wife is a primary school teacher, I am a university lecturer. My wife is instructed (by the head teacher) to get children through national tests. Her school was recently inspected by quality insurance and they suggested that even higher national test pass rates were desirable. Of course the Statistics Commission's claims are correct. The same is true at university entry. More children obtaining better grades does not mean more children are more intelligent. The whole ethos of standards testing is corrupt. We cannot endlessly make people do better. We need to focus on avoiding poor educational practise, but avoid measuring success by simple increases in test pass rates.
Iain Johnstone, Glasgow

Shouldn't the emphasis be on the quality of education rather than improved test standards, especially in a child's formative primary school education years
James Cavanagh, London, UK

There's an old saying that "there are lies, damned lies and statistics". All statistics are inherently misleading as there are so many different "correct" ways of showing data. By using mean or median "averages" you can create two totally different pictures and neither one is technically "wrong". All in all, I'm not surprised that these figures are iffy. I'd be more worried if no-one questioned them.
Peter , Nottingham

Both GCSE and A level exams are much easier than they ever used to be T Wilson, London, England

Of course they are overstated. Both GCSE and A level exams are much easier than they ever used to be as it is part of this government's policy to encourage children to stay in education, pass exams and go on to university as, otherwise, the unemployment figures would be huge and cause a massive outcry. The easier way is to keep them in education for as long as is possible. An examiner actually told me that most of today's A level sitters would not have a clue if they had to pass even an O level exam of 20 years ago.
T Wilson, London, England

It would not surprise me. Typical of the government to blow its own trumpet and view its own record through rose tinted spectacles. From my experience though, exams are getting easier, due to the fact that they 'stand still' and do not adapt to each new school years crop of talent.
Oliver, UK

Statistically, each year group that passes through the school system is going to have a similar average in intelligence and capability. Improvements in class sizes and teacher training will have a small impact on standards. But anyone who works in education can tell you that the big changes have more to do with how and what we measure.
Christine, UK

Forty years ago, we all knew our multiplication tables backwards, we could spell several hundred English words perfectly and even speak a little French, all before our sixth birthdays. Today, I rather suspect most teenage school leavers would struggle to match this. A travesty that surely speaks volumes.
Patrick V Staton, Guildford, UK

Where does Patrick V Staton come from? I went to a primary school in the post-war years where only the minority of children moved on to secondary education truly literate and numerate. French was something quite foreign to us in every sense unless we were lucky enough to pass the 11+ and go to the Grammar School.
Angela Grills, Glossop, UK

I believe government figures about education standards about as much as I believe their figures on NHS waits Jon G, Huddersfield UK

All the government have shown is that, if you force schools to compete in league tables based on limited testing, you will ensure that schools get good at pushing kids through that limited testing, never mind the detriment to the rest of their education. We have recently moved our kids from what was once a good school. The teachers, to satisfy the arbitrary government standards, were having to concentrate heavily on those who would struggle in their tests. Because my kids were likely to manage them without much trouble, they lost out. I believe government figures about education standards about as much as I believe their figures on NHS waits - smarter counting methods, not real improvements.
Jon G, Huddersfield UK

Why do we even have a 'statistics commission'? And how much tax payers' money is wasted on it?
Angry of Surbiton