GCSE results form the basis of secondary school league tables

In 1997 the cost was �1.54m, but figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that by 2002 that had more than doubled to �3.09m.

The cost of testing pupils rose from �130.6m to �200.9m last year.

That was for production, printing, marking and moderation, not the fees schools pay.

The findings come a day before this year's GCSE results are published.

Students now sit exams for the benefit of government league tables, rather than for their own good Phil Willis, Liberal Democrats

The performance of these candidates will be used to compile the controversial secondary school league tables in the autumn.

Primary school league tables are based on the results of national curriculum tests sat by 11 year olds.

The results of those, published on Tuesday, showed no improvement in pupils' performance, again prompting critics to ask whether the tests - and subsequent league tables - had run their course.

The rising cost is due in part to the introduction of "value added" tables.

Last year the government introduced these for secondary schools to give a clearer indication of the effectiveness of the teaching at different schools, by showing the progress pupils make.

Wrong priorities

Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis MP said: "There has been an explosion in spending on producing league tables."

"Spending 101% more on producing league tables than in 1997 is misguided at a time when so many schools are suffering budget cuts.

"I am sure that most teachers and parents could think of better ways to spend �3.03m," said Mr Willis.

He also said ministers had got their priorities wrong in terms of the level of spending on test setting.

"These figures show that the government spends more and more valuable education cash on testing, whilst less and less is devoted to teaching," he said.

"The average student will be required to sit 68 exams between GCSE and A-level. Students taking advanced papers could sit a staggering 87 exams, and will be tested every year.

"The exam system has become so bloated that students now sit exams for the benefit of government league tables, rather than for their own good."

The Department for Education and Skills said the costs it had produced in response to Mr Willis's Parliamentary questions were for all its data collection, not just for publishing league tables.

It itemised the costs as being:

• Inclusion of Key Stage 2 results which were unavailable prior to 2001: �0.47m.
• Inclusion of Key Stage 3 results in the tables for the first time in 2002: �0.4m.
• An extra �0.11m for "additional confirmation of A-level results".
• Value added calculations: �0.5m.

But the Lib Dems stuck by their charges.

"Our point is there's a huge amount of testing which has a huge cost," a spokesman said.