Ofsted report reveals decline in good or outstanding secondary schools in Tower Hamlets
The number of secondary schools with the top Ofsted ratings has fallen File picture: Ken Mears - Credit: Archant
The number of secondary schools in Tower Hamlets to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted has decreased in the past year.
Figures revealed as part of Ofsted’s annual report found that 82 per cent of the borough’s secondary schools had one of the top two gradings as of August - a decline of five percentage points on the same time last year.
Across the capital, 89pc of secondary schools boast a good or outstanding rating.
But the primary school figures paint a different picture, with 97pc of schools making the grade - an improvement of 6pc and above the London average of 94pc.
The report also found that 67pc of primary children were reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in Key Stage 2 - above the London average of 66pc.
But the progress of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 was below that of their peers, with the average A8 score - attainment in eight GCSE subjects - being 47.0 compared to the capital-wide 48.6.
Mike Sheridan, Ofsted’s regional director for London, said: “For most young people, London is a great place to grow up.
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“We have some of the best schools, colleges, social care and early years provision to be found.”
But he added: “There remains too much variation in performance between the London boroughs.
“We want to see all children in London receiving high quality education and care – regardless of the area they live in.”
A Tower Hamlets spokeswoman said: “We are home to some of the most disadvantaged children and families in the UK, but we also have some of the best performing schools in the UK.
“All of our primary schools are now rated good or better. A third of our primary schools are outstanding as are over 40% of our secondary schools.
“We have shown progress year on year but we also know that we must continue to improve so that our young people can have a strong, well-rounded education.”
She added that of the three secondary schools in Tower Hamlets that are judged less than ‘good’ by Ofsted, only one of these comes under the council’s responsibility. The other two are free schools and school improvement responsibilities lie with the Department for Education.
