The Yorkshire Post says: No more excuses, it's time to bring struggling schools up to standard

After all, 90 per cent of all primary schools – and almost 80 per cent of secondary schools – are now rated “good” or “outstanding” and it’s important that these statistics are highlighted.

This would not be possible without the professionalism and commitment of the country’s teachers – and their colleagues – who continue to go the extra mile on behalf of their students.

As Ms Spielman said in her candid remarks, more schools in deprived and social challenging areas are meeting Ofsted’s benchmark and that a culture of ‘disadvantage one-upmanship’ masks the tangible progress that is being made. Too much time has been spent talking Britain’s schools down.

That said, it is perturbing that 135 schools have not recorded a good inspection in the past 10 years despite receiving “considerable attention and investment”. It means tens of thousands of pupils not enjoying the “equality of opportunity” that has become the mantra of Justine Greening, the Rotherham-born Education Secretary.

This stark statistic shows that there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution – Ofsted, in conjunction with the teachers concerned and local leaders, need to come up with a bespoke plan for each of these schools.

If the Education Secretary needs to make emergency funds available, she should not hesitate to do so.

Time is of the essence. Yet, in doing so, Ms Greening needs to be mindful that the conversion of struggling schools to academies, the Government’s preferred approach, is not necessarily the answer – a significant proportion of the establishments not meeting Ofsted’s criteria are those operating outside the control of LEAs.