PARENTS across Scotland will be able to see how well their children have performed in new national tests, ministers have revealed.

Angela Constance, the Education Secretary, said the scores would be available as part of a range of information on pupil progress.

Earlier this month, the Scottish Government unveiled further details of its National Improvement Framework – which includes the plans for national standardised tests.

Ms Constance said: "Parents will have access to more information about their children’s education and progress than ever before, on what they are doing well and where they might need extra help.

“The National Improvement Framework aims to raise the attainment of children, close the attainment gap and improve health, wellbeing and employment."

Ms Constance made her comments during a visit to Dundee where she launched a new information leaflet for families on the framework produced by the National Parent Forum of Scotland.

Iain Ellis, chair of the forum, said: "We are pleased to produce this leaflet on the framework and we hope parents will find it useful as it is intended to explain things from a parent perspective.

"It is important that parents continue to be at the centre of this important development and that they are recognised and supported as being crucial to raising attainment and closing the gap."

Two weeks ago, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was accused of a "climbdown" over the plans to introduce standardised national tests for Scottish primary and secondary pupils after it emerged results will not be published.

Ministers decided not to publish data from the assessments after significant opposition from teaching unions who argued the raw data would be used to compile league tables comparing schools serving different catchment areas.

Instead, the Scottish Government will publish the attainment levels pupils have reached in literacy and numeracy under existing Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) benchmarks, which are based on the professional judgement of teachers, backed up by evidence from the new tests.

The standardised tests will be available to schools to assess pupil in three ley years of primary school as well as the third year of secondary.