Ofsted says number of failing schools is down

Education watchdog Ofsted said today the number of schools it judges to be inadequate has dropped in both the capital and the country.

But while London's failure list was reduced from 26 to 21 between April and August, the improvement was partly thanks to the closure of some of the worst schools. Ministers said this was evidence the Government was prepared to take tough action to raise standards.

Schools minister Lord Adonis said: "Parents expect us to take an uncompromising approach to schools that are underperforming. Over the last decade there has been an unrelenting focus on raising standards. We have seen significant improvements in results since then."

Ofsted's figures show that the number of schools in England in the most serious category of under-performance, or "special measures", fell from 256 to 246 over the summer term.

The number in the second worst category, those judged by inspectors to require "significant improvement", fell from 351 to 306.

But the overall reduction in failing schools was achieved in part by the closure of 15, including Syon Park comprehensive in Hounslow and two pupil referral units: New Directions in Islington and the Inclusive Learning Service Key Stage 4 Centre in Southwark. Another failing comprehensive, Pimlico, is set to be taken over and turned into a City academy by Westminster, the top private school.

Hathaway Primary in Ealing has been threatened with closure unless it shows significant signs of an upturn within a year. In its report on the school, Ofsted said: "From the outset, children do not make enough progress."

Two Southwark primaries have raised their performance enough to come out of special measures but town hall education chiefs will be concerned that a third, St Peter's CofE school, has dropped into the bottom bracket.

Headteachers have attacked the new, shorter inspections introduced last year, which involve Ofsted placing much greater reliance on exam results and other data from schools.

They claim inspectors make inaccurate judgements because they do not spend enough time observing in classrooms.

Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "We believe the figures may still be higher than they should be because the context of the school hasn't been taken into account.

"But, generally speaking, this is certainly moving in the right direction."