The tables show the published results achieved by schools in the Key Stage 2 national curriculum tests in England in May 2004 - those taken by pupils in the final year of primary school, at the age of 10 or 11.
The results are those published by the Department for Education and Skills.
There are also "value added" scores - produced by the department to show how much a school has improved its pupils' achievements since they took their first set of tests in 2000.
The figures relate to all local authority-maintained primary and middle schools with pupils eligible for assessment at the time of the tests in English, maths and science in May.
They do not include special schools, pupil referral units, hospital schools or independent schools.
What is in the rankings
The schools are listed within each local education authority (LEA) in three ways: Alphabetically, ranked on the "value added" score, and ranked on the "aggregate" score achieved in the three tests - the maximum possible being 300 (100% in each subject).
In the rankings, where more than one school has the same score, they are further ranked on the average points scored by pupils (see below for more on how this is calculated). Any which still tie are then listed alphabetically.
In the alphabetical LEA lists, after the school's name, the first column of figures shows its value added score, then the aggregate score; then the results themselves.
Those results are the percentage of the pupils eligible to take the tests who achieved Level 4 or above - the standard expected for their age.
In the value added ranking (VA), the bold column shows schools' scores.
A value added score is worked out for each pupil by comparing their Key Stage 2 performance with the middle performance of other pupils with similar prior attainment at Key Stage 1.
The arithmetic mean of these individual scores gives a score for the whole school. This is converted to a number based around 100. The range this year is 94.7 to 105.6.
The resulting rankings need taking with a pinch of salt. Official statisticians say the significance that can be attached to different scores depends on various factors, including the numbers of children involved.
For various reasons complete "before and after" scores are not available for all pupils. Where the data are missing for 50% or more of those eligible to take the tests, the value added score is not published.
Official statisticians reckon anything of 102.1 and above is in the top 5% nationally. Anything of 97.9 and below is in the bottom 5%.
This is how the bands work out:
102.1 and above: top 5% of schools nationally
100.9-102.0: next 20%
100.3-100.8: next 15%
99.8-100.2: middle 20%
99.3-99.7: next 15%
98.0-99.2: next 20%
97.9 and below: bottom 5%
In the aggregate (AGG) ranking, the bold column shows the aggregate score on which it is based.
This is derived from the number of pupils achieving at least the expected level, divided by the number eligible to take the test, for each subject, added together and multiplied by 100.
The letters SS signify a small school - with fewer than 11 pupils eligible to take the tests. They are included in the alphabetical lists for completeness but no results are published for them - they are reported as NA on their individual school pages.
Clicking the name of any school in any of the lists takes you to its individual page.
At the top, as well as basic information about the school, there are ABSENCE figures showing the percentage of half-day sessions lost due to authorised and unauthorised absence. A "negligible" result indicates that absence was more than 0 but less than 0.5%.
There is a link to the school's page on the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) website, where its most recent inspection report is available.
The VALUE ADDED score for the school is shown. The bar allows you to see at a glance how well this school did, compared with the worst and best in the country. The other bar shows the local average. The national average is 100.
A "#" symbol indicates that the previous attainments for more than half the pupils was not available, rendering the measure unreliable. These schools are not ranked.
Under PERFORMANCE is the figure for the number of pupils eligible to take the tests and, next to that, the proportion of those deemed to have special educational needs (SEN) - with or without formal statements.
The AVERAGE POINT SCORE is given first. The bars show how well this school did compared with the best in the country (which this year achieved 32.4 points) and the local and national averages.
The average point score is designed better to reflect the achievement of all pupils, not only those reaching Level 4.
It involves adding up all the points pupils achieved in the three subjects, then dividing this by the number of pupils eligible to take the tests.
Points are awarded as follows:
B (below test level): 15
N (not awarded a level): 15
Level 2: 15
Level 3: 21
Level 4: 27
Level 5: 33
Then the results for each subject, ENGLISH, MATHS and SCIENCE are reported, again with comparison bars - the best being 100%.
The "Absent or unable to access the test" figures alongside refer to those who were not there to take the test for whatever reason, and to the few pupils who were not able to take part, usually because they had certain special educational needs.
The published results take account of all pupils, including those with special educational needs or who were absent or unable to do the tests.
There is then a TREND measure, showing the "aggregate" scores for this year and the previous three years, again with at-a-glance comparison bars - the maximum being 300.
Because of the way the aggregate is calculated it is not necessarily exactly the same as the sum of the three test results.
A "+" sign means the relevant results are unavailable for reasons beyond the school's control.
An NA means the results are not available for some other reason, such as the school had too few pupils (10 or fewer) for its results to be reported in the relevant year, or was not open at the time.
The separate local and national averages may not add up to the totals given in the trend, due to the way the Department for Education and Skills rounds results to the nearest whole figure.
The school's RANKING among others in the area can be accessed via links at the foot of the page, both on its aggregate results and its value added score.
Types of school
Community - maintained by the local education authority (LEA), which is responsible for admissions arrangements.
Voluntary aided - maintained by the LEA, with a foundation (generally religious), which appoints most of the governing body, which deals with admissions.
Voluntary controlled - maintained by the LEA, with a foundation (generally religious), which appoints some - but not most - of the governing body. The LEA is the admissions authority.
Foundation - maintained by the LEA. Some may have a foundation (generally religious), which appoints some - but not most - of the governing body, which is the admissions authority.
Ministers agree it is unfair for schools to be judged on the results of children who have arrived recently from overseas and whose first language is not English, so schools can choose to omit those pupils from the number eligible to take the tests.
Some schools will have improved their performance as a result, although they are not identified in the data.
This change is also reflected in their local education authorities' averages - but not in the national averages.