'Soul destroying': Wolverhampton primary schools among worst in UK

Ofsted's annual report put the city 135th out of 150 local authorities for children attending primaries that fall into the watchdog's top two ratings.

The report shows that although there are now seven per cent more better rated schools in the city than there were in 2014, Wolverhampton is still lagging behind when it comes to providing a decent level of primary education.

Wolverhampton council's Tory leader Councillor Wendy Thompson said the figures were 'very disappointing'.

She added: "The rate of improvement is nowhere near sufficient and paints a seriously worrying picture for Wolverhampton."

A total of 74 per cent of pupils attend primary schools that are graded good or outstanding by Ofsted.

It was better news for secondary schools in the city. Wolverhampton jumped 28 places in the national table to joint 81st spot, with 77 per cent of pupils attending good or outstanding schools. This was up nine per cent on 2014.

It means the city is now top of the pile in the Black Country for the quality of its secondary schools.

However 65 per cent of secondary students now attend academies, which are free from local authority control.

Mrs Thompson added: "Although it is pleasing to see secondary schools improving, the fact remains that they are having to motor at twice the speed to get youngsters prepared for work as a result of the failings of some of our primaries.

"It is soul destroying that we are turning out pupils that we do not have the skills required for work. I want to see schools that are doing well sharing their practice. At the moment this is clearly not happening often enough."

Education chiefs at Wolverhampton council say the number of good or outstanding primary schools has improved from 74 per cent to 76 per cent since Ofsted compiled the figures in October.

Councillor Claire Darke, the authority's cabinet member for education, said: "I am pleased with the continuing progress that is being made to raise standards in our city's schools.

"The number of pupils attending good or outstanding schools in Wolverhampton has risen for the second year running.

"Indeed at secondary level we have moved from 108th best performing council last year to joint 81st best in 2015, according to data published this week, a very notable achievement.

"While we have seen big improvements at both primary and secondary level, there is clearly still more to do to improve standards still further and the council will continue to work closely with local schools to increase attainment levels."

Nationally the number of pupils attending good or outstanding schools averaged 85 per cent for primaries and 73.5 per cent for secondary schools.