Over third of region’s schools ‘not good enough’

Three per cent of the region’s schools – 75 in total – are said to be inadequate and are either in special measures or have been given a notice to improve.

Another 31 per cent of schools are rated as “satisfactory” a category which is set to be scrapped by Ofsted and replaced with “requires improvement.”

Ofsted currently give schools one of four overall judgments: outstanding, good, satisfactory or inadequate.

The figures published yesterday give the overall picture for 2,260 schools in the region, updated to include three months of inspections from April to June.

The figures show 380 schools in the region are ranked as outstanding, 17 per cent of the total, which is slightly below the national average of 21 per cent. Another 1,100 Yorkshire schools are rated as good, 49 per cent of the total.

There are 705 schools rated as satisfactory and 75 more that are said to be inadequate.

Nationally more than a third of schools inspected in the second quarter of this year were not good enough. Of the 1,476 state schools in England visited between April and June, 74, five per cent were considered inadequate and a further 435 schools, 29 per cent, were only satisfactory.

Under new inspection rules, schools previously rated outstanding are not routinely inspected and those considered good are inspected less frequently, unless questions are raised through the risk assessment process.

This could include a change of headteacher, high turnover of staff or queries over results.

The statistics also show that just over one in 10 schools visited between April and June were found to be outstanding and 55 per cent were good.

Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “We are 
particularly pleased that Ofsted has clearly demonstrated that persistent suggestions in some quarters that behaviour is poor in our schools and that leadership teams are weak are simply not true.

“Such myths damage confidence in our school system and get in the way of attempts by school leaders to raise the quality of teaching and learning.”