School league tables: 170,000 pupils in failing schools
Tens of thousands of children are being given a substandard education in poorly-performing secondary schools, official league tables show.
Almost 170,000 pupils are languishing in state secondaries where fewer than four-in-10 teenagers gain a string of good GCSE grades, according to Government data.
In all, 195 schools in England are falling below the Government’s basic floor target for 16-year-olds.
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They face being closed or converted into independent academies under the leadership of a private sponsor as part of a Coalition plan to raise standards.
It was also revealed that around one-in-four schools and colleges – more than 600 – are failing to produce a single student with top A-level grades in subjects seen as a stepping stone to a leading university.
The disclosure – in data published by the Department for Education – sparked claims that pupils were being let down by a “culture of low aspirations” in too many schools.
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... (Daily Telegraph - 24 January)