School league tables: 170,000 pupils in failing schools

Tens of thousands of children are being given a substandard education in poorly-performing secondary schools, official league tables show.

Almost 170,000 pupils are languishing in state secondaries where fewer than four-in-10 teenagers gain a string of good GCSE grades, according to Government data.
In all, 195 schools in England are falling below the Government’s basic floor target for 16-year-olds.
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They face being closed or converted into independent academies under the leadership of a private sponsor as part of a Coalition plan to raise standards.
It was also revealed that around one-in-four schools and colleges – more than 600 – are failing to produce a single student with top A-level grades in subjects seen as a stepping stone to a leading university.
The disclosure – in data published by the Department for Education – sparked claims that pupils were being let down by a “culture of low aspirations” in too many schools.

But the Government defended the figures, insisting that significant improvements had been registered over the last 12 months.
More schools are responding to tougher targets by boosting results and entering more pupils in exams for key academic subjects, a spokesman said, adding that standards had increased five times as quick in sponsored academies.
The data also shows that:
– More than 100,000 children – six-in-10 – who were considered among the brightest pupils at the age of 11 failed to go on to gain GCSEs in a range of academic subjects five years later;
– The top performing school in the country was Colyton Grammar in Devon where pupils scored an average of 816 GCSE points – the equivalent of 14 A* grades each;

The Rushden Community College, Northamptonshire, was the worst performing school in the country, with just six per cent of pupils gaining five A* to C grades at the age of 16.
But Mark Lester, the head, said the college had entered pupils for the English language and English exams but not English literature, which he said is the one counted by the DfE.
"Because of the decision made by the DfE about which English specification counts, we fall foul of that particular loophole."
Mr Lester said that if his students' English exams had been counted, their pass rate including English and maths would have been 46 per cent.
Under Coalition reforms, all state schools in England have been told to ensure that at least 40 per cent of pupils gain five A* to C grades at GCSE, including the core subjects of English and maths. They must also satisfy separate targets relating to the amount of progress made by children in the three-Rs between the age of 11 and 16.
According to today’s league tables, 215 secondary schools fell below the floor target last summer, although 20 have since been closed and converted into academies led by a private sponsor.
In all, 167,000 children are being taught at the 195 remaining secondary schools stuck below the Government’s floor target.
The number of struggling schools is up on the 107 classed as failing in 2011, although this was down to an increase in the overall target that schools are supposed to meet.
In 2011, the basic standard was set at 35 per cent. If it had been as high as 40 per cent, some 251 would have failed, it emerged.
The DfE insisted the figures showed how “introducing tougher floor standards, giving greater freedom to heads and teachers, accelerating the academy programme, and encouraging take-up of key academic subjects is driving improvement in education”.
“These figures are further evidence of the great success of the academy programme in turning around our weakest schools – sponsored academies are improving their GCSE results five times faster than other schools." a spokesman added.
But Chris McGovern, a former head teacher and chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “There is a culture of low aspirations at too many schools. Michael Gove [the Education Secretary] is trying to fix the problem by encouraging a greater focus on academic subjects, but the fact is that secondary schools are inheriting children with great potential and then failing to ensure they can realise it.
“It is a tragic waste of talent.”
For the first time this year, the Government has also published figures on the number of pupils at each school or college scoring good A-levels in core academic "facilitating" subjects.
Pupils are supposed to gain at least two A grades and a B in maths and further maths, English literature, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, history and modern and classical languages to meet the target.
These are subjects in demand among leading Russell Group universities and the indicator is intended to show which schools and colleges are fully preparing pupils for the most sought-after degree courses.
But the figures show that at around 600 schools and colleges - just over one in four - no A-level student scored AAB in facilitating subjects.
Private schools dominated the new measure, with 70 per cent of pupils at St Paul’s Girls’ School in west London and Magdalen College School in Oxford hitting the target.