A STUDY by North-East academics has cast doubt on the results of Government literacy tests.

Labour claims standards in primary schools have risen sharply since it launched its literacy strategy after coming to power in 1997.

It has set a target of 80 per cent of 11-year-olds reaching level four in the national tests for English.

Government figures show a big rise in youngsters reaching the standard, from 67 per cent in 1997 to 82 per cent last year.

But an independent study by Durham University's Curriculum, Evaluation and Management Centre suggests that the national test results may give a false picture.

Data it collected on the performance of pupils in 122 schools, where 5,000 children sat national tests, showed a big improvement in maths, but only slight improvements in their scores for reading and vocabulary.

Professor Peter Tymms, head of the centre, said that the improvement in national test scores appeared amazing.

But he said that, unlike the US, a new test was used each year, and the only reliable way of gauging any improvement was to use the same secret test each year.

He said children were being "taught the test" because schools and teachers were judged on the proportion of pupils who reached level four.

A spokesman for the Department for Education said: "Teachers, pupils and parents have worked very hard to achieve these results and people's time would be better spent celebrating that, not knocking it.

"The curriculum tests are very valid and reliable measures of pupils' achievement.