EDUCATION standards have barely improved despite the massive injection of funds from Labour, a new independent study has found.

What gains there have been in schools largely began before the party came to power in 1997, the report argues. Meanwhile, some of the improvements that began in the mid-1990s have petered out since 2000, despite billions of pounds of extra spending.

Peter Tymms, professor of education at Durham University and one of the authors said: “I was absolutely staggered when I saw the figures. They beggar belief for the tiny little impact they have had.”

The conclusions undermine Labour’s election claims to have brought about major improvements in schools since coming to power. They will add to accusations that the government is wasting billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money.

Speaking in Bolton earlier in the election campaign, Blair pledged he would “stay focused on education, education, education — yesterday, today and tomorrow”.

The manifesto boasts: “education spending that was 4.7% of national income in 1997 will rise to 5.5% this year. We will continue to raise the share of national income devoted to education”.

The new study was commissioned by The Sunday Times to assess whether school standards have risen or fallen under Labour and the effect of government policies.

It acknowledges there have been slight improvements in test and exam results, but finds little evidence these can be linked with Labour policies. English standards in primary schools, for example, a key target of the government’s national literacy strategy, have virtually stagnated since 2000.

Spending on schools grew from £22.4 billion in 1997-98 to £35.4 billion in 2004-05, a rise of 58%. “The gains have been modest but the efforts have been massive”, says the study. “Hundreds of millions of pounds spread across hundreds of initiatives have been invested. One has to ask if the money could have been better spent.”

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats will seize upon the figures. Tim Collins, shadow education secretary, said: “Labour has fiddled the figures, debased standards and corrupted the exam system in a way which has badly let down teachers and pupils.”

Four years ago, Labour pledged a “step-change in secondary schools to match the vast improvements in primary schools already achieved”.

However, the 24-page Durham study finds there is nothing near a step-change in secondary schools and that even the improvements in primary standards are faltering. The report, which expresses the personal views of Tymms, Robert Coe and Christine Merrell claims official figures “clearly exaggerate” the primary gains.

Using independent tests, the authors estimate 58% of 11-year-old children achieved the level in English expected of their age group in 2004, not the 77% claimed by the government. In maths, 64% achieved grade 4 according to the independent tests, rather than the official 74%.

Even by its own figures, the government’s primary school improvements are looking tarnished.

In total, only two-thirds of 11-year-olds reached the required standards in both English and maths. The remaining one third, after six years’ primary schooling, cannot read, write and count properly.

In secondary schools, the study finds there have been improvements — “steady and modest but gains nonetheless” — in the proportion of children achieving five or more A to C grades at GCSE, but says this did not suddenly begin when Labour came to power. “It is not obvious that policies implemented since then have altered the rate of improvement,” says the study.

At A-level, the report says “a higher proportion of candidates are getting higher grades”, but that it has got easier to gain top grades. Pupils today can expect to achieve, on average, just under a grade higher than those of the same ability in 1997, the Durham research finds.

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