Standards on rise for pupils in secondaries
Almost a quarter of a million fewer children are being taught in failing secondary schools compared with three years ago, new figures suggest.
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.
This year's top school for GCSEs was Colyton Grammar School in Devon. The co-educational school gained the best results in the country for the second year running. It entered 120 pupils for GCSEs and equivalent exams with all gaining at least five qualifications at grade C or higher.
The latest tables also include figures on the number of pupils achieving the Government's flagship English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure.
To gain the EBacc, pupils must score at least a C at GCSE in English, maths, science, history or geography and a foreign language.
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.
