80 Yorkshire schools threatened by Ofsted downgrading

The new head of Ofsted has warned that schools should only be given the top rating of outstanding if their teaching is of the very highest grade. Schools which have previously been judged to be outstanding, but where teaching was only found to be “good”, could now find their status under review.

The tough new measure would affect almost one in four of Yorkshire’s best schools.

Currently, Yorkshire has 87 “outstanding” schools while across the country as many as 1,000 could be downgraded. Full list »

There are currently 52 primaries, 28 secondaries, three pupil referral units, two special schools and two nurseries in Yorkshire which received outstanding Ofsted ratings but where teaching was only found to be good

The list includes three selective grammar schools – North Halifax and Crossley Heath in Halifax, and Ermysted’s boys school in Skipton – and the first two academies created in Yorkshire. Dixons City Academy in Bradford and Trinity Academy in Thorne, near Doncaster, are among the schools currently ranked as outstanding

Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, said: “Teaching is central to the life of the school, it’s the most important thing teachers do.

“This means schools previously judged outstanding might be subject to a review of that status at some stage in the future.

“There needs to be a clear gold standard understood by all. And central to that understanding is that teaching is the predominant factor in achieving outstanding status.”

The full list of the 87 schools which could be affected in Yorkshire can be found at www.yorkshirepost.co.uk.