Primary function

For a start, there is the fact that the information is simply not available for many schools because of the sheer ill will engendered under the last government between Whitehall and the teaching establishment, shown in the decision by head teachers to boycott SATS tests.

Then there is the even more concerning detail that, under Mr Gove's new rules demanding that at least 60 per cent of 11-year-olds reach the standard expected for their age group in both English and maths, almost 1,000 primaries in England are falling short. In other words, huge numbers of pupils are arriving at secondary school without the basic skills of numeracy and literacy, a fact that many secondary-school teachers have been pointing out for some time.

The new standards have exposed the roots of the appalling state of British education in spite of the huge increase in funding over the past decade. They also point to the way out of this depressing situation. For, despite the teaching unions' persistent claims that league tables are misleading, the answer is to provide more, not less, information.

One fact on which both unions and Government should agree is that all schools are different and face their own problems. But it is only through revealing the fullest possible details of each school and their battles against adversity, as Mr Gove wants to do, that the best can be rewarded and the worst rooted out.