The borough in south-west London, which recorded a slight increase in its results, maintained its position as the highest scoring education authority for primary schools.

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How education authorities performed

In second and third places are the very small authorities - Isles of Scilly and City of London.

But in fourth place is Wokingham, which came third in this year's secondary league tables - and which overall could be judged as the highest performing education authority.

Islington - now a privatised education authority - continues to struggle

Among the top 10 education authorities there are only two changes from last year, including the entry of one of the most improved authorities, Warrington, which has risen from 37th place last year to ninth this year.

Other authorities showing substantial points increases were Blackpool, Hammersmith and Fulham and Camden.

The results could vindicate an innovative scheme promoted by Blackpool Borough Council, in which vouchers for burgers were used as an incentive to reward pupils' attendance and academic achievement.

The tables also show that there can be substantial differences between performance at primary and secondary level.

This year's leading primary authority, Richmond-upon-Thames, is not in the top 20 at secondary level.

And Redbridge, among the most successful at secondary level, is not in the top 40 for primary schools.

Rural failure

The stereotype of struggling inner-city authorities is also challenged by examples of underachievement in rural counties and affluent southern England - with Norfolk, East Sussex, Kent, Wiltshire and Somerset all below the national average.

At the lower end of the table, Bradford has slipped two places to record this year's lowest score.

Last year's bottom rung authority, City of Nottingham, is now one place above Bradford.

Among the bottom 10 authorities, there were four changes, with the biggest point score fall recorded by Islington, which fell 22 places to seventh from bottom.

The north London borough, which now has a privatised education service, was the third worst performer at secondary level.

Truancy in London

The London boroughs of Greenwich and Hackney remain in the bottom 10 - but Haringey, Newham and Manchester have all moved up the performance table.

There are also signs of the gap narrowing between the top and bottom authorities - with the lowest scoring four authorities all showing improved results.

Education authorities have also been ranked in terms of truancy and absenteeism, with inner-city London authorities among the worst.

The highest truancy rate was in Lewisham, followed by Newham, Southwark, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

The table below shows the relative performance of England's local education authorities in their schools' Key Stage 2 national curriculum test results.

The columns show the average point score (APS), the aggregate score of the tests in English, maths and science (AGG), the change in this from last year, and the rate of unauthorised absence.

Click on the name of any individual authority for a full list of its schools' results.

(FM) indicates results significantly affected by the foot and mouth outbreak.

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