Pupils' success in tests for 14-year-olds could earn Education Bradford a £140,400 bonus.

The privatised education service, which is two and a half years into a ten-year contract to drive up standards in local classrooms, appears to have met targets in English and Maths, but failed its target for Science.

And by achieving four out of seven targets linked to May's Key Stage 3 tests, it looks set to earn Bonus Incentive Payments of £140,400.

That figure could rise if further analysis shows it has hit test targets for seven-year-olds and GCSEs, and a full report will be presented to councillors in February. The maximum that can be earned in bonus is £1 million.

Last year, Education Bradford earned only £8,450 out of a possible £870,000.

After that, it renegotiated its contract with Bradford Council and agreed lower targets which were described as "attainable".

A spokesman for Education Bradford today refused to comment on whether any targets had been achieved.

A report on attainment across all age groups and the implications for the annual Strategic Incentive Payment will be prepared for the February meeting of the Education overview and scrutiny committee.

In Key Stage 3 English, an original target of 69.5 per cent was replaced with a lower one of 62.5 per cent and Bradford's actual score of 65 per cent comfortably beat this. It also appears to have met a further target on the numbers of pupils attaining the higher Level 6 in English.

In Maths, the previous target was 66 per cent, but this was cut to 59.8 in negotiations.

This new, lower target has been reached, after pupils recorded an overall pass rate of 60 per cent.

The education service also hit its targets on the numbers achieving the higher Level 6 in Maths.

In Science, an original target of 65 was replaced with a new one of 57.2, but Education Bradford still failed to hit this, recording an actual total of 55 per cent.

For each target that is achieved, Education Bradford earns 1.8 incentive bonus points, each worth £19,500.

The cash is a bonus on top of the 'core fee' it is paid to run the service - around £35 million per year.