Another academy branded 'failing'

Stockport Academy has been given a notice to improve after inspectors ruled that it was not performing well enough.

The school is the third academy run by the United Learning Trust (ULT) to be declared "inadequate" in less than a year.

In June Sheffield Springs Academy was given a notice to improve, and two months later nearby Sheffield Park Academy was put into special measures.

Monitoring visits by Ofsted inspectors have found that both academies are making satisfactory progress in improving.

According to an Ofsted report on Stockport Academy last month, inspectors believe that "significant improvement is required in relation to students' achievement and the development of their basic skills, particularly in Key Stage 3, and their attendance."

Pupils in Key Stage 3 are aged 11 to 14.

Last year, only 25 per cent of students at the academy gained five GCSEs at grade C or above, including English and maths.

In November, ULT, which runs 17 academies across the country, was banned by Ministers from taking on any more schools until it raises the performance of its existing ones.

The organisation pulled out of plans to sponsor academies in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire.

Stockport Academy caters for 900 11- to 16-year-olds, with an additional 250 students in its sixth form. It opened in September 2007 and specialises in science, supported by business and enterprise.

ULT is an Anglican charity chaired by former Tory education Minister Dame Angela Rumbold.

The academies programme was spearheaded by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, and became a flagship measure of the Labour Government's education policy. Academies are semi-independent state schools set up with backing from private sponsors.

A ULT spokeswoman said: "In the three months since Ofsted's visit, we have acted quickly to address the issues raised by the inspectors. Attendance and punctuality are up and will continue to improve and, judging by the grades of the students who took their exams early, the academy can expect improved GCSE results this summer.

"While we make no excuses, the starting point of the school when it became an academy was challenging having been the lowest performing school in the area for many years. The inspection result should not mask the fact that GCSE results have almost doubled within two years of the academy opening."

She added: "Ofsted's latest reports on progress at our two other academies that have faced difficulties demonstrate the strength of improvement being made in them.

"With Sheffield Park Academy, Ofsted have said that 'much has been achieved in a short time' and that good progress has been made since December to be removed from Special Measures. The same leadership team that has overseen these improvements is working with Stockport, and their work will pay dividends there too."