The results of national curriculum tests show a slight improvement

Provisional figures show 77% of 11 year olds reached the required standard in English, up from 75% in 2003.

Maths results saw a one percentage point increase to 74%, but the number of 11 year olds making the grade in science fell one percentage point to 86%.

Critics have renewed calls to scrap the tests, saying pupils are over-tested.

The performance of secondary school pupils in the national curriculum tests - sat at age seven, 11 and 14 - also rose in maths to 73%, but fell in science from 68% to 66%.

Results for English tests for 14 year olds have been delayed due to problems with a new marking system.

There was also some improvement in test results for seven year olds, with 85% achieving the expected level in reading and 90% reaching that level in maths.

Targets for 11 year olds not met

But the primary school results remain well below the government's target of getting 85% of 11 year-olds to the expected national standards by this summer.

The testing engine has run out of steam Dr Mary Bousted, ATL

The deadline for this target has already been moved to 2006 when it became clear it would not be reached.

Setting targets for attainment in maths and English at the end of primary school was a central plank of the government's first-term strategy for education.

In the past, ministers even offered to resign if the targets were not achieved.

But, after a significant improvement between 1997 and 1999, the results have stalled.

Rising standards

Despite the mixed picture of the results, the School Standards Minister, David Miliband, said they were a great success.

"These are good results and show that standards achieved by pupils in our primary schools are improving again," said Mr Miliband.

"We are also pleased at the progress made in maths by 14 year olds.

"Standards in all areas are improving but some of the biggest strides are in some of the poorest areas. It shows that poverty is not a barrier to success," he said.

'Out of steam'

Critics called on the government to scrap the testing, saying the process was no longer as useful means to measure achievement.

"Test results can't be relied upon alone - they're subject to variation and only represent part of a learner's achievement," said Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

"English, maths and science are important as basic skills, but the 21st century needs rounded, versatile individuals. Defining young people by test results alone insults their individuality," said Dr Bousted.

"The government must face facts: testing by itself is no longer driving up standards. The testing engine has run out of steam."

The Liberal Democrats' education spokesman, Phil Willis, said: "What the statistics do not show is that a small but significant group of young people are reaching the age of 14 unable to read or calculate effectively and the government appears to have written these youngsters off.

"David Miliband's complacency hides a stark fact that this government's desire to control school standards from the centre has miserably failed."