A Liverpool school has left its struggling status behind and been praised as one of the city's "best kept secrets" by its headteacher.
Holly Lodge Girls' School in West Derby has been rated as "good" in its latest Ofsted after an inspection two years earlier rated it as "requires improvement".
The quality of education in Liverpool's schools is under immense scrutiny after this year's GCSE results saw the city plummet down national rankings.
The city came 129th in a ranking of local authorities for the proportion of students who get Grade 5 or above in English and Maths, versus a ranking of 76th two years ago.
Holly Lodge's Ofsted report, published last month, said pupils enjoy attending the school and feel "safe and well cared for" and praised pupil behaviour and the development of its curriculum.
Headteacher Andy Keen said the higher rating was "great news" for staff, parents and pupils.
He said: “It’s important to remember, though, that the improvements we have made were not made for Ofsted - we did it for the girls.
“We’re confident the changes we have made have been done properly so that they’re sustainable and we will keep reaping their benefits.
"We have ensured that the students are supported and we have also made sure that we’ve developed and valued our excellent, hardworking staff.
“I’m very happy that Ofsted picked up that the pupils enjoy coming to school. I’m also pleased that they recognised how important pride and ambition are at Holly Lodge and how we do our very best to instil in the girls that they should feel pride and ambition for themselves.
“ Holly Lodge is one of the best-kept secrets in Liverpool and our next big challenge is getting people to understand how good we are.”
Council cabinet member for education Barbara Murray praised the school's progress and said she was confident the school would continue to improve.
