BETTER, but still not good enough is the message to Swindon primary schools after this year's league tables were published.

The tables are based on tests taken by 11-year-old youngsters in May. They show Swindon's schools have made steady progress and closed the gap on the rest of the country, but are still below average.

Standard Assessment Tests (SATS) examine children in English, maths and science.

Overall Swindon scores 231, behind Wiltshire on 233 and the English average of 234, but the town's mark is a rise on last year from 229, while the national average has stayed the same. The marks add up the percentage of pupils reaching an acceptable level in the three subjects.

Lethbridge Primary was ranked top, Penhill Primary lowest and Nythe most improved.

A new category, value added, measures how much improvement pupils have shown from the ages of seven to 11. Three of Swindon's schools are in the top five per cent of improvers in the country.

In June, a month after the children took the exams Freshbrook Primary was placed in special measures for intensive monitoring by Government inspectors, but has been shown to be on the up.

Abbey Meads Community School and Nythe Primary are also marked improving.

Swindon Council's education director Hilary Pitts said she was pleased with this year's results.

She said: "Swindon is slowly closing the gap on Wiltshire and England.

"The results in maths and science were good although we are still below standards in English. This is a specific area that we are looking for improvement in."

Penhill Primary headteacher Linda Rankin has warned against reading too much into the tables.

She said: "We realise we are below average, but SATs are only one aspect of school life."

Coun Garry Perkins, lead member for education, said: "Improving the state of education in our schools is not something that is going to happen overnight.

"We have got to keep working at it. Unfortunately the disastrous lack of funding is not making it easy.

"Headteachers are having to make do with what they have got."

Ian Hill, Swindon secretary of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said: "It is not a level playing field. We are expected to perform to national targets but we are not being given the same funding as everyone else."