Secondary league tables were first introduced in England by Margaret Thatcher. When John Major extended their use to primary schools, both Wales and Scotland did not join in. The present Government's focus on achieving targets in literacy and numeracy has raised the status of the test scores further but only in England.

Scotland and Wales do not publish league tables.

In Wales children sit similar national curriculum tests. Results are identifiable for each local authority but not for individual schools at primary level. At secondary level in Wales league tables were abandoned in July 2001.

Scottish primary schools do not do tests of this kind at all, following a revolt by parents when they were first being introduced. In Scotland, children are tested individually in primary and in the first two years of secondary school when their teachers consider they have reached the next of five levels in the 5 - 14 programme. The tests are taken from a central bank of materials but are administered and assessed by teachers rather than being externally marked as they are in England. Now a sixth level is to be introduced since a third of children were achieving the top level while still in primary school.