Joy as number of failing schools falls
Six secondary schools in the Black Country and Staffordshire were today named as among the 200 most improved in the country.
The schools include Deansfield Community School in Wolverhampton, Shireland Collegiate Academy in Smethwick, St Michael's CE High School in Rowley Regis, The Crestwood School in Kingswinford, Barr Beacon School in Walsall and The Stourport High School and Sixth Form Centre. Wolverhampton Girls High School, Stafford Grammar School and Wolverhampton Grammar School were all meanwhile named among the top 200 schools of all types at GCSE level.
Nationally, almost a quarter of a million fewer children are being taught in failing secondary schools compared with three years ago, new figures suggest.
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Download the full league tables here
The number of schools falling below the Government's floor target for secondaries has more than halved since 2010, according to official data contained in new performance tables.
But there are still just over 150 schools that are considered to be under-performing, collectively educating almost 120,000.
At these schools, less than 40 per cent of their pupils are gaining at least five GCSEs at grade C or higher, including English and maths, and students are not making good enough progress in these two core subjects.
In total, about 117,000 youngsters are being educated in the 154 schools that are not reaching the Government's 40 per cent GCSE benchmark – down 50,000 from 2012 and down 244,000 from 2010.
The new league tables are based on data provided by the Department for Education (DfE) and show how every school and college in England performed at GCSE, A-level, other academic and vocational qualifications in 2013.
The latest tables also include figures on the number of pupils achieving the Government's flagship English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure. A DfE analysis of the data found that this year, 202,000 pupils were entered for the EBacc, compared with 130,000 in 2012.
In 735 secondaries, more than half of pupils were entered for the EBacc, and in 237 secondaries more than 50 per cent of students achieved the EBacc. Education Secretary Michael Gove said that the figures were 'a credit to the professionalism and hard work of teachers'.
"Thanks to their efforts, the number of children taught in under-performing schools has fallen by almost 250,000 since 2010," he said. "This progress has been achieved at the same time as our EBacc has ensured young people are taking the core subjects which will help them find a job or go to university."
