Four local schools fall below government's minimum standards for GCSEs

Figures released today show pupils at Brune Park and Bridgemary School are not achieving five good GCSEs or made sufficient progress in English and maths.

King Richard School, in Paulsgrove, and Park Community School, in Leigh Park, also failed to ensure that at least 40 per cent of their pupils gained at least five C grades at GCSE, including English and maths, and that students make good enough progress in these two core subjects.

Overall, 329 state secondary schools in England did not meet the minimum benchmarks this year, according to The Department for Education (DfE).

Although the DfE does not publish a list of schools falling below its floor targets the Press Association’s analysis, using the DfE’s methodology for calculating under-performing schools, shows more than a quarter of a million children are not getting a decent education, including pupils at three of the government’s flagship free schools.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said the results, based on last summer’s GCSE grades, show how far the nation has come in raising standards, but added the government will tackle the ‘pockets of persistent under-performance.