Wakefield Council has been criticised by Ofsted for its ‘ineffective’ school improvement.
The schools watchdog has warned in a report that the number of schools in the district is ‘well-below’ the national average. Ofsted also said the large achievement gap between children from poor backgrounds and their peers was also a concern.
Nick Hudson, Ofsted’s regional director for the North East and Yorkshire and Humber said: ‘Wakefield and its partners have some clear areas of strength, including examples of effective school-to-school support and reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training.
‘However, the achievement of children at primary and secondary school is well below the national average – and the gap is widening as performance is not improving rapidly enough.’
The council said it accepted the findings of the inspection and will be producing an action plan within the next 30 days.
John Wilson, Wakefield Council's corporate director for children and young people, said: 'We recognise that we could do better. The council is ambitious for the children and young people of this district, which is why education is a key priority. Our monitoring and intervention work is successful and our schools are improving, especially at secondary level with 66% of 16-year-olds passing 5 A*-C GCSEs, including English and maths, last summer.'
Mr Wilson added: 'We are determined to continue our schools’ support and improvement programme and we will use the findings of this OFSTED report to inform our action planning and ensure that children and young people in Wakefield are given the best start in life that we and our partners can provide.'
