A new report finds "deeply troubling" north-south divide in the quality of secondary schools

Library picture of a school Credit: PA

A "deeply troubling" north-south divide in the quality of secondary schools means children in the North or Midlands are less likely to receive a good secondary education than those in the South, the head of Ofsted has said.

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw has published his fourth Annual Report on schools and further education.

There are 16 local authority areas in England where fewer than 60 per cent of children attend schools rated good or outstanding.

13 of these are in the North or the Midlands.

Sir Michael said the divide cannot be explained simply by the higher levels of economic deprivation found in the North and Midlands but a lack of political will.

"We are witnessing an educational division of the country after age 11, with secondary schools performing well overall in the South but struggling to improve in the North and Midlands."

The report revealed that children in primary schools were excelling across the country but secondary schools in the North and Midlands, with some 410,000 pupils, are under-performing.

The chief inspector of schools said that action is needed to address the capacity issues facing England's education system, including a shortage of high-quality secondary school leaders.

What about our secondary schools?

  • There are 13 local authority areas in the North and Midlands where less than 60% of children attend good or outstanding secondary schools and which have lower than average attainment and progress at GCSE. They include Middlesbrough and Hartlepool in our region.

  • Although there are some high performing areas in the region, including Newcastle and North and South Tyneside, overall, almost a third of secondary schools in the North East are less than good. They are attended by around 40,000 pupils,

  • In some local authorities in the North East, half of all secondary schools are less than good.

What about our primary schools?

  • The North East has the greatest proportion of pupils attending good or outstanding primary schools in the country.

  • Ninety per cent of primary schools in the North East are good or outstanding.

  • Nine out of ten primary pupils attend a good or outstanding school.

  • North Tyneside and Newcastle occupy first and second rankings respectively of all local authorities in England on this measure.

  • Provisional results for Key Stage 2 in 2015 show that the attainment and progress of primary school pupils in the North East is in line with or above the national level on every measure: reading, writing and mathematics.