Pupils take tests in English, maths and science

The government says all schools should manage this so-called "floor target" in English, maths and science by 2008.

Figures published on Wednesday show last year 13% of schools failed - six percentage points less than in 2004.

The "floor target" requires attainment at national curriculum Level 5 or above in all three subjects.

In more than two dozen local authority areas it has been met already.

But at the other extreme, more than half the schools failed to meet the target in three areas: Manchester, Bristol and the London borough of Haringey.

Headline results

These Key Stage 3 national curriculum tests results are regarded as key indicators of how well pupils will perform in GCSE-level exams two years later.

The final figures for each of the three core subjects confirm the provisional results which were published last September.

Rounded to the nearest whole point these show:

• 74% of teenagers made the grade in English (81% of girls and 67% of boys), up three points on 2004

• 74% in mathematics (74% of girls and 73% of boys), up one point

• 70% in science (70% of girls and 69% of boys), up four points.

The Department for Education and Skills public service agreement target is that 85% of 14-year-olds nationally achieve Level 5 or above in English and maths and 80% in science by next year.

Adding less value

Schools Minister Jacqui Smith said the government's White Paper reforms, plus record investment, would ensure support was targeted where it was needed most.

"We are supporting teachers to better personalise the learning of their pupils to meet their individual needs whether that's helping them catch-up or stretching them further - and reinforcing powers to root out disruption in the classroom," she said.

"We have raised the bar on what we expect from schools and introduced tough new measures to tackle failure."

The figures also show that pupils made slightly less progress in comprehensives - including academies and city technology colleges - than in either secondary moderns or grammars.

The "value added" measure, which shows children's progress since leaving primary school three years earlier, produces a score based around 100 regardless of the actual level of attainment.

The average in comprehensives this year was 99.51. In secondary modern schools it was 99.55 and in grammar schools it was 101.97.