Primary school league tables published

Critics says the league tables merely reflect the intake of a given school

Primary school league tables for England will be published later.

The tables show how more than 14,000 primary schools in England performed on a range measures linked to national curriculum tests, known as Sats.

The tables keep schools accountable and enhance parental choice, ministers say.

But critics says the tables do not measure all aspects of a school and merely reflect the intake of a given school and so discriminate against schools in challenging areas.

The statistics, relating to tests taken by 11-year-olds in England in the summer 2012, will be released by the Department for Education (DfE) at 09:30 GMT on Thursday.

The BBC will be publishing tables that will allow readers to rank schools in their local authority according to how many pupils achieved the expected level (Level 4) in maths and English.

The BBC tables will also show how schools fared with their high-fliers - the percentage of pupils achieving a Level 5 (the level expected of a 14-year-old) in maths and English.

They will also allow readers to find out how schools are helping pupils to progress, with a value-added measure that indicates how pupils have improved between the end of Key Stage 1 (infants) and the end of Key Stage 2 (juniors).

Last year, the BBC's tables showed 74% of 11-year-olds in England met the required levels in English and maths - a Level 4.

The leafy London borough of Richmond came out as the best-performing local authority, with 87% of pupils reaching the government's benchmark of Level 4 in maths and English.