The Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) has praised the "excellent job" done by education officials in Newham, east London, and Bury, Greater Manchester.

The two inspection reports are in marked contrast to the scathing criticism meted out by Ofsted last year to authorities including Manchester and Tower Hamlets.

Newham and Bury are said to make effective use of education spending, plan well and support schools in improving literacy, numeracy, classroom behaviour and attendance.

Newham is an impoverished borough with a multi-ethnic population. Although its schools are performing poorly by national standards, they are said to be improving rapidly.

"Newham local education authority serves the people of Newham well," says its report.

"It also serves the country well in demonstrating that it is possible successfully to challenge the assumption that poverty and ethnic diversity must necessarily lead to failure at school."

'Highly effective'

Bury has a predominantly white population with incomes close to the national average. Its schools are said to be doing very well and getting steadily better.

Its report says: "The education service has most of the characteristics of a highly effective organisation: it is very well led, has a distinctive ethos and clear principles, enjoys excellent relationships with its schools, consults with them well and listens to what they say, plans well, uses its resources prudently and checks that they have the effect intended."

Although praise heavily outweighs criticism in both reports, inspectors noted some shortcomings.

"Newham still has important questions to answer in two critical cases - the amalgamation of the National Literacy Strategy with the borough's English language service for bilingual pupils and the level of intervention in schools - while Bury needs to persuade its schools to set higher literacy targets," Ofsted says.

The Chief Inspector of Schools in England, Chris Woodhead, said the two authorities were exceptions among the authorities that had been inspected.

"Bury, in particular, demonstrates how a local education authority can deliver without diverting resources from schools and without rhetoric and fuss, while Newham's relative success shows what can be achieved even in the most difficult circumstances.

"Local education authorities need to raise their expectation of themselves. These reports show that it can be done."