More schools in London are failing Ofsted inspections

Figures from the education watchdog show that the number of schools in the capital performing so badly they face the threat of closure if they do not improve went up from 25 to 29 in the first four months of the year.

Nationally, the number of schools in this "special measures" category rose from 245 to 254.

Today's figures come after chief schools inspector Christine Gilbert angered ministers by claiming the drive to raise standards had "stalled".

Headteachers said Ofsted was focusing too narrowly on exam results when deciding to fail a school.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, accused Ofsted of failing to help schools that were struggling, saying its claim to be an agent of school improvement could not be true if more schools were failing.

"Most schools in special measures are in tough areas where there is a degree of lawlessness and anarchy out there on the streets," he said.

"Schools are having to deal with that before they can get to the job of education. We have to think differently about it and that's the debate I would like to have."

Ofsted said of the 2,465 inspections carried out nationwide during the spring term, 50 resulted in schools being placed in special measures, giving a failure rate of 1.8 per cent. This compared with a failure rate of two per cent last autumn.

Most of London's failing schools were primaries. Southwark has four in special measures and Bexley has three as well as a failing comprehensive, Welling School. Ofsted said Welling had deteriorated even further since its last inspection, when the school was given a formal warning to improve.

The watchdog said: "Inspectors do not agree with the school's judgment that it is now effective. There are severe weaknesses in the quality of teaching and learning which do not enable students to make up for previous underachievement."

Ofsted warned that three of Southwark's failing primaries were making inadequate progress towards recovery.

Lisa Rajan, executive member for children's services and education for Southwark, said: "We recognise that the standard of a small number of schools still isn't satisfactory and we are working hard to turn this around as quickly as possible.

"We have a number of strategies in place to support these schools and address the issues highlighted, including using experienced headteachers to work outside of their schools to provide effective leadership and management.

"We are confident these schools will come out of special measures in accordance with the targets set."