Six schools in Gosport, Havant and Portsmouth have been given a three-year ultimatum to improve exam results.

Ministers are targeting schools where less than 30 per cent of pupils get five good GCSEs, including English and maths.

But Mike Madden, headteacher at Staunton Community Sports College in Leigh Park, described the figure as 'ludicrous'.

His school has been rated good by Ofsted and is in the top 40 per cent for progressing pupils despite social factors like deprivation.

He said: 'The government has plucked the 30 per cent figure out of the air and decided schools are failing on just one measurement.

'But if you look at all the 600 or so schools it's no surprise that they are in the most deprived areas in the country.

'Ofsted says we're a good school and so does our value- added score. Thirty per cent is no measure of progress.

'This is a school community that's worked very hard and I think made important progress in the last eight years.

'For us this is a real kick in the teeth.'

King Richard School in Paulsgrove was recently awarded a certificate for being in the top five per cent of schools for its value-added score and a senior school leader was seconded to help other struggling schools.

Some 40 per cent of pupils start at the school with literacy and numeracy levels below what's expected to start secondary school.

Yet it is one of the six local schools – out of 638 nationally – that's been criticised for falling below the baseline GCSE level.

Headteacher Brian McClarin, pictured, said: 'We believe the school is highly successful but we've still got a long way to go.'

The government has warned the schools identified that if they do not improve results they could face being turned into an academy or closed to become a Trust school partnered with businesses and universities.

Local councils have been ordered to come up with detailed plans to improve these schools – but schools secretary Ed Balls has made it clear that local education authorities as well as individual schools could be taken over and replaced if they fail to deliver.