Damning Ofsted report accuses 'failing' secondaries

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert warned that one in 10 secondaries inspected this year were judged inadequate, while 49 per cent were no better than satisfactory.

In her latest annual report, covering 2006-07 and based on inspections of 6,800 schools, Ms Gilbert delivered a gloomy verdict on efforts to raise standards of achievement and behaviour.

She said there was an "urgent" need to improve discipline and ease tensions between groups of pupils.

Ms Gilbert said: "There is still a long way to go. Recurrent themes are all too apparent - poor attendance and low levels of basic skills hindering the learning of disadvantaged pupils.

"There are too many referral units letting their pupils down, poor attainment and employment prospects of most children in public care, disproportionate numbers of exclusions of black Caribbean pupils and too many prisons in which provision for adult learners is unsatisfactory."

She said behaviour should be made a priority concern, pointing out: "Any behaviour which has a negative impact on learning is unacceptable."

And she made clear there were deep inadequacies in the teaching of history, RE and citizenship.

The hard-hitting comments by Ms Gilbert, a former headteacher, will be greeted with dismay by ministers - including her husband Tony McNulty, a Home Office minister - who insist that standards of achievement are at record highs, while the number of failing schools is at historic lows.

Ms Gilbert said: "I make no apology for emphasising our ambition and our sense of urgency.

"I see no reason why every school should not aspire to be a good school.

"Nor do I see why the services that support children and young people should not be strong and effective."

Ms Gilbert, who has antagonised teacher unions by saying "satisfactory is not good enough", said that the education system has still not solved several chronic problems.

One in five children still leave primary school without being able to read and write properly, and a child's family background still dictates how they will do at school and in later life, she said.

Behaviour is "just satisfactory" in three out of 10 comprehensives - compared with only eight per cent of primaries - and Ms Gilbert said teachers had to shoulder some of the blame.

She said: "Disruptive behaviour was often, though not always, linked to poor teaching and inadequate assessment."

Ms Gilbert did, however, praise efforts to raise standards of achievement and discipline in London's toughest areas.

The London Challenge - covering the whole capital but focused on Hackney, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth and Southwark - helped schools to improve faster than the national average.

THE KEY FINDINGS

* One in 10 secondary schools are "inadequate" and 49 per cent no better than satisfactory. Just 12 per cent are "outstanding".

* Four out of 10 schools - primary, secondary and special - provide no more than a satisfactory standard of education.

* The number of failing schools of all types went up from 520 in 2005-6 to 552 in 2006-7

* 16 per cent of children's homes and 14 per cent of pupil referral units, which take children expelled from mainstream schools, are also inadequate.

* One in three children's homes fail to meet standards of health, safety, security and staff training.

* Behaviour is "just satisfactory" in three out of 10 secondary schools, while "poor attendance" is a continuing problem.

* RE, history and citizenship lessons fail to help pupils learn about British heritage, democracy and religious issues in modern society.