Ofsted’s chief inspector, Michael Wilshaw, has warned of a growing failure in England’s secondary schools, with almost a third judged not to be good enough.
Delivering Ofsted’s annual report, reviewing the outcomes of inspections in 2013-14, Wilshaw noted a growing divide between primary and secondary schools. He said that pupils leave primary education with good literacy and numeracy skills, but the culture they encounter at too many secondary schools often discourages them.
The report found a disparity in the quality of education on offer around England, that good teachers are in short supply in the areas of greatest need and that schools are not doing enough for their most able pupils. Concerns around poor achievement among white British children was also highlighted. So, what are the main points to take away? Here are the details behind those headline claims:
Progress in secondaries has ‘plateaued’
Wilshaw said that 170,000 children are being taught in secondary schools that are deemed inadequate, which is 70,000 more than in the previous year. Launching the report he warned that the nation should be worried about a growing divide between primary and secondary schools.
Ofsted figures show 83% of primary schools are now rated good and outstanding, a three percentage point increase this year, compared with 71% of secondary schools – a figure that hasn’t changed since 2012-13.
Inspectors found that leadership in primary schools in 2012-13 was not as good as that in secondary schools, but today the reverse is true: 84% of primary schools had leadership judged “good or outstanding” compared to 77% of secondary schools.
Primary school success, according to the report, is down to strong leadership and governing bodies, good teaching and the promotion of good behaviour. “The mission of primary schools is now clearer than it has ever been, particularly in relation to literacy,” the report said, using rising phonics screening check scores as an example of this.
The report also concluded that it was too early to judge free schools but that early indications showed that they succeed or fail for broadly the same reasons as all other types of schools.
‘We face a challenge getting the best teachers in the right schools’
Ofsted’s report states that “good teachers are in short supply where they are needed most” with the worst-performing regions having the greatest problems in attracting and retaining great teachers.
Wilshaw said: “More teachers will be needed to match the substantial increase in the number of school-aged children expected over the next 10 years. We also face a major challenge getting the best teachers in the right schools.”
A shortfall in new teachers is an ongoing problem; the number of new entrants to teacher training fell by 16% since 2009-10. Teach First is good at addressing this imbalance; it recruited fewer than 1,000 secondary trainee teachers last year.
However, trainees don’t always move across England. In London there was one Teach First trainee for every 850 secondary pupils in schools in challenging circumstances. This is double the proportion of trainees in the north east and north west. Teacher shortages are particularly acute in coastal towns.
“The nation must avoid a polarised education system where good schools get better at the expense of weaker schools,” Wilshaw said.
The north-south divide in education quality
Of the 13 local authorities named and shamed by Wilshaw today, all but one were in the north and Midlands. Those mentioned were: Tameside, Middlesbrough, Barnsley, East Riding, Stockton-on-Tees, Bradford, Blackpool, Doncaster, Oldham, St Helens, Hartlepool, Derbyshire and Isle of Wight.
In Yorkshire and Humber, for example, four in 10 secondary schools do not provide a good standard of education. In 2014, GCSE results in the region fell more than in any other. And despite the overall strong performance of primary schools some local authority areas are poorly served.
Achievement among white British kids is ‘particularly troubling’
Wilshaw said that he was sad that there was no sign of the gap between white British and other ethnic groups narrowing.
There has been some progress in primary schools where the attainment gap in maths at key stage 2 has narrowed by seven percentage points since 2007. But for disadvantaged secondary school pupils the gap is only one percentage point lower.
White British pupils from low income families are the lowest performing of any ethnic group, and while girls outperform boys within this category, both perform poorly overall. In Windsor and Maidenhead, the attainment gap between white British pupils eligible for free school meals (FSM) is around 12 percentage points, whereas in nearby West Berkshire it’s 33 percentage points. This year inspectors focused on what schools are doing to support the most disadvantaged children.
Also in the report:
• We are still failing bright pupils. This year in a third of all inspected secondary schools it was recommended that more able pupils should be given more challenging work.
• The transition from primary to secondary is not handled well. Too often the gains made at primary level are not capitalised on. The report warned of low-level disruption being a particular problem in secondary schools.
• High number of independent schools “inadequate”. Ofsted introduced a new framework in 2014 for the inspection of non-association independent schools. In this academic year 296 independent schools were inspected and the proportion rated good or outstanding has increased by eight percentage points to 72% but those judged inadequate was 11% – a higher percentage than most other types of schools.
• Give pupils the right guidance.Not all sixth forms offer a high standard of education, according to the report. Small sixth forms sometimes offer too narrow a subject range and the quality of teaching is variable. “We are concerned that small and ineffective sixth forms often guide young people onto the wrong courses because of the limited range available,” it was noted. Poor careers advice overall at a variety of schools was also criticised.
• Strong leaders make all the difference. 23% of secondary schools have weak leadership compared with 16% of primary schools. Ofsted inspected 76 free schools and found similarly strong leadership is vital to success. “The weakest free schools have ineffective leadership ... with little challenge to tackle poor performance.” The report said that the best leaders “understand inspection”, begging the question of whether schools are expected to lead for Ofsted?
• Good governance is key. After this year’s Trojan horse scandal it’s no surprise that this is high on the agenda. Schools are less likely to succeed if their governance is poor, the report said. Ofsted reviews of governance are having limited impact, however, and this year action was required in around 700 schools judged less than good. Evidence suggests that in around half of these schools there had been problems with governor recruitment or a lack of training and this had limited the impact of the review. In some cases schools refused to engage in the findings.
