Poorer marks for Yorkshire in new school tests

HUNDREDS of schools could be tagged as "underperforming" under the Government's tough new achievement targets – with Yorkshire likely to have one of the poorest records in the country..

Secondary schools will be subject to intense scrutiny if fewer than 35 per cent of their pupils get five C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, and fewer students reach two levels of progress between the ages of 11 and 16 than the national average.

Experts have estimated there are as many as 400 schools across the country which could fall into that category, and figures from Government watchdog Ofsted has reveal that 76 schools in the Yorkshire region are already either inadequate or "performing significantly less well than they might".

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Any school that fails to meet the target will face intervention and could be turned into an academy.

Under the last Labour government, the target for schools was to have more than 30 per cent of pupils achieving five C grades, including the basics.

While there is currently no target for primary schools, these are expected to fall below the bar if fewer than 60 per cent of their pupils reach level 4 in English and maths and fewer youngsters than the national average make the expected progress between five and 11.

Results from primary school tests this summer showed Yorkshire pupils had the lowest level of attainment in the country at reading and writing.

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The figures revealed 78 per cent of pupils in the region reached the level expected of 11-year-olds in English tests, compared with a national average of 82 per cent.

Yorkshire schools were also slightly below the national average in maths with 79 per cent of 11-year-olds making the grade, compared with 80 per cent across the country.

Education Secretary Michael Gove would not be drawn on the precise number of schools likely to be affected by the measure.

He said schools would not be categorised as "failing", insisting they would simply be termed "underperforming".

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"Our approach is going to be more sophisticated than the last government's," he said. "If a school has a really tough intake but it is still making tremendous progress, then we won't be classifying it as underperforming.

"We will recognise the unique circumstances of every school."

Where schools are found to fall below standard, "outstanding headteachers" would be brought in to help turn them around.

The White Paper – The Importance Of Teaching – was published by the Department for Education yesterday and represents a major overhaul of the English schools system.

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It outlines proposals covering teacher training, qualifications and assessment, inspections, league tables and funding in an attempt to boost standards.

The training process for new teachers will be overhauled, and there will be an expansion in the TeachFirst programme to attract top graduates into the classroom, as well as a new Teach-Next scheme for people switching careers with subsidies for graduates going into teaching in key subjects. Government funding for initial teacher training for graduates with a third-class degree will be removed.

Qualification reforms will include "stripping out" modules from GCSE courses to restore the focus on exams.

To improve discipline, Mr Gove plans to give teachers stronger powers to search students and impose detentions and exclusions, as well as clearer rules on the use of force, and staff will be protected from false allegations by pupils.

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As increasing numbers of schools become independent of council control, local authorities will take on a role of "parents' champion" helping to ensure that parents choose schools, rather than schools choosing pupils.