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Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly has welcomed the acceleration in the numbers of young people achieving five or more good GCSEs.

The Labour Minister says the figures are further evidence of rising standards in schools throughout England.

According to the new figures for 2004/05, it was the biggest single increase in GCSE results in more than a decade.

But Liberal Democrat Shadow Education Secretary, Edward Davey MP said Ministers should not be crowing about GCSE figures.

"The improvements Labour have been claiming for years have been brought into question.

"The emphasis on targets and league tables has backfired and exposed Labour's education policy for the failure it is.

"Ministers do no favours to the teachers and pupils who are working so hard when they manipulate key statistics.

"There's a real worry now in schools across the country that the target culture and inaccurate league tables are undermining teaching and education."

More than 51,000 more pupils are now achieving a good pass in English and maths than did so in 1997, according to the figures.

And the % of 15 year old pupils getting 5+ A* - C, including English and Mathematics, has risen from 35.6% in 1997 to 44.1% in 2005.

The new figures have been published in the Statistical First Release: GCSE and Equivalent Results for Young People in England, 2004/05 (Provisional).

Ruth Kelly said: "Rising standards in our secondary schools means that compared to 1997 over 60,000 more 15 year olds are achieving 5+A*-C's. This is a tremendous achievement and one that schools, teachers and pupils deserve to be proud of.

"This is evidence of the fact that more and more young people are being given the support and opportunities they need to reach their full potential and we are determined to build on this success.

Kelly added: "We still face a number of challenges - particularly in raising the attainment of some of our lowest achievers. The results make clear that many schools have already taken the steps they need to bring about real improvement.

"We are clear that every pupil in every school should be benefiting from the same drive for high standards and the forthcoming White paper will outline the measures that we will put in place to support this process."

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