SCHOOLS will need to make "significant improvements" in their teaching of parts of the maths curriculum, the Welsh education minister has said, as the results of initial trials of national tests start to come in.

Nearly 700,000 reading and numeracy test papers for pupils in Years 2 to 9 were sent out in May this year, to more than 1,650 schools, and pupils and their parents will find out the results this week.

But the education minister admitted there are "lessons to be learned" from the way they were implemented.

We reported in May that the National Union of Teachers (NUT) said children were struggling to cope, to which the Welsh Government said younger pupils could sit the tests in shorter sessions. The tests were also scheduled at the same time many older pupils were sitting GCSE exams.

The test results are "fundamental to raising standards", said the education minister, and schools will be able to use the data to identify pupils' strengths and areas for development. But unions like the NUT believe the tests will be used as a basis for banding primary schools next year, a matter which the Welsh Government has said is under consideration.

"The tests are an essential component of our plans to improve standards of literacy and numeracy, and we are now beginning to look to next year when the reasoning element of the numeracy tests will be introduced," said Mr Lewis AM.

"It is clear from the initial trials that schools will need to make significant improvements in their teaching of numerical reasoning, in line with the expectations set out in the Literacy and Numeracy Framework, and this will be a priority over the next year."

Mr Lewis AM said he plans to come back to Assembly Members in the autumn to set out plans for implementation of the tests in May 2014.