EAST LANCASHIRE'S primary schools are continuing to improve, according to performance league tables published by the Government today.

Top of the class in the region were Brindle St James CE Primary, Sacred Heart RC Primary, Colne, and Turton and Edgworth CE/Methodist. Each achieved 100 per cent passes in English, maths and science.

The tables show the performance of 11 year olds in this year's National Curriculum tests.

Schools which come under the Lancashire County Council umbrella came out better than the national average in every measure of quality in the tables, County Councillor Alan Whittaker, Cabinet Member for Education and Young People, said.

He added: "Our schools should feel proud of these excellent results.

"Lancashire is maintaining a trend of improvement in overall test percentages and the results are significantly above the national average in all subjects."

The tables show that the percentage of pupils achieving target level four or above in English, maths and science was better than the national average.

Results have improved in the Lancashire education authority continuously over the past four years.

But Councillor Whittaker added: "The number of pupils achieving level four or above in each subject will obviously vary from school to school.

"Each school has a different intake, and because a school has a lower proportion of pupils achieving level four does not imply that it is performing less well.

"Schools should be judged by a broad range of measures, not just the tables published today. But it is encouraging to find that so many Lancashire schools are doing well."

Nationally, the best local education authority in England was Richmond-upon-Thames and the worst was Bradford -- where Blackburn with Darwen education chief Mark Pattison will take up the top job next month.

Councillor Mahfooz Hussain, Executive Member for Education and Lifelong Learning with Blackburn with Darwen Council, said today : "These results illustrate the hard work and commitment of staff, pupils and parents throughout the borough, with continued improvement in performance at Key Stage One and results reflecting national trends at Key Stage Two and Three.

"As an LEA we would like to congratulate all staff and pupils for their significant achievements this year, which are part of an overall trend for results in the borough, that is one of significant improvement over a number of years.

"Both the LEA and schools will continue to work hard, with a range of innovative strategies, to ensure that this trend continues."

Take a look at the performance tables...