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| Underperforming schools 'putting northern powerhouse plans at risk' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Government ambitions to build a northern economic powerhouse will “splutter and die” unless underperforming secondary schools in Manchester and Liverpool raise their game, Ofsted’s chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has warned. | Government ambitions to build a northern economic powerhouse will “splutter and die” unless underperforming secondary schools in Manchester and Liverpool raise their game, Ofsted’s chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has warned. |
| The chief inspector of schools said that secondary education in these cities was “going into reverse” and called on local politicians to act urgently and champion their schools in a demonstration of “grit, imagination, faith and bloody mindedness”. | |
| It is not the first time Wilshaw has highlighted concerns about secondary education in the north of England. In his annual report last December, he described his alarm at the emerging educational divide between north and south. | |
| In a speech on Tuesday to the Institute for Public Policy Research, he went further, warning that the underperformance of schools in Liverpool, Manchester and neighbouring towns was a risk to the government’s vision of a northern powerhouse. | In a speech on Tuesday to the Institute for Public Policy Research, he went further, warning that the underperformance of schools in Liverpool, Manchester and neighbouring towns was a risk to the government’s vision of a northern powerhouse. |
| Related: 'Deeply troubling' divide in England's secondary schools alarms Ofsted | Related: 'Deeply troubling' divide in England's secondary schools alarms Ofsted |
| Four in 10 Liverpool secondary schools have been judged by Ofsted as either inadequate or “requiring improvement”, with the proportion of pupils gaining five good GCSEs (A* to C, including English and maths) down from 50% two years ago to 48%. | |
| In Manchester, three in 10 secondary schools are either inadequate or require improvement, with the proportion of pupils gaining five good GCSEs down from 51% two years ago to 47%. | |
| Wilshaw said: “Manchester and Liverpool are at the core of our ambitions for a northern powerhouse. They are the engines that could transform the prospects of the entire region. But as far as secondary education is concerned they are not firing on all cylinders. In fact, they seem to be going into reverse. | |
| Related: Lucy Powell: ‘We shouldn’t just sit in my office saying scrap this, scrap that’ | |
| “I am calling on local politicians, be they mayors, council leaders or cabinet members, to stand up and be counted, to shoulder responsibility for their local schools, to challenge and support them regardless of whether they are academies or not. | “I am calling on local politicians, be they mayors, council leaders or cabinet members, to stand up and be counted, to shoulder responsibility for their local schools, to challenge and support them regardless of whether they are academies or not. |
| “I’m calling on them to be visible, high-profile figures that people can recognise as education champions. I am calling on them to make education in general – and their underperforming secondary schools in particular – a central target of their strategy for growth. | “I’m calling on them to be visible, high-profile figures that people can recognise as education champions. I am calling on them to make education in general – and their underperforming secondary schools in particular – a central target of their strategy for growth. |
| “Unless they do, I fear Manchester and Liverpool will never become the economic powerhouses we want them to be. Politicians need to act. It requires grit, imagination, faith and bloody mindedness – qualities that, fortunately, I really don’t think are less common in the north than they are down south.” | “Unless they do, I fear Manchester and Liverpool will never become the economic powerhouses we want them to be. Politicians need to act. It requires grit, imagination, faith and bloody mindedness – qualities that, fortunately, I really don’t think are less common in the north than they are down south.” |
| Ofsted’s north-west regional director, Chris Russell, has written to education providers in Greater Manchester and Knowsley on Merseyside raising similar concerns. Last summer almost two-thirds of Knowsley school leavers failed to achieve the government benchmark of five good GCSEs. | |
| Russell said too many pupils attending secondary schools in places like Salford, Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester were not prepared for the next phase of their education, training or employment. | Russell said too many pupils attending secondary schools in places like Salford, Rochdale, Oldham and Manchester were not prepared for the next phase of their education, training or employment. |
| Manchester is ranked in the bottom eight local authorities in England in terms of GCSE attainment; Rochdale recorded the second largest decline nationally for the proportion of pupils gaining five good GCSEs, and overall rates of progress in English and maths across Greater Manchester are below national averages. | |
| “This level of performance presents not only a worrying picture for the employment prospects of young people in one of the United Kingdom’s major cities, it also presents a real risk to the economic and social stability of the area as a whole,” said Russell. | “This level of performance presents not only a worrying picture for the employment prospects of young people in one of the United Kingdom’s major cities, it also presents a real risk to the economic and social stability of the area as a whole,” said Russell. |
| The decline in secondary education in northern cities is in striking contrast to the success of London schools, whose results – particularly among poorer children – are among the best in the country. The capital’s schools benefited from an enormous political push and huge investment via the London Challenge. | The decline in secondary education in northern cities is in striking contrast to the success of London schools, whose results – particularly among poorer children – are among the best in the country. The capital’s schools benefited from an enormous political push and huge investment via the London Challenge. |
| But Russell pointed out that the Greater Manchester Challenge had also brought significant investment to schools in the region “but the legacy of the £50m campaign appears to be one of decline rather than improvement”. | But Russell pointed out that the Greater Manchester Challenge had also brought significant investment to schools in the region “but the legacy of the £50m campaign appears to be one of decline rather than improvement”. |
| Labour’s education spokeswoman, Lucy Powell, called for more powers to be developed in local areas to help tackle educational underperformance. “The elected mayors of Greater Manchester and Liverpool would be a good place to start,” she said. | |
| “However, the education and adoption bill back in the House of Commons today goes in the opposite direction – further centralising powers in Whitehall and fragmenting our schools system rather than giving local areas the power and responsibility to ensure a step change in school results.” | “However, the education and adoption bill back in the House of Commons today goes in the opposite direction – further centralising powers in Whitehall and fragmenting our schools system rather than giving local areas the power and responsibility to ensure a step change in school results.” |
| She also warned that the government’s planned new school funding formula could hit areas like Liverpool and Manchester hard. “Labour supports fairer funding but these areas are likely to take a big hit. There should be mitigation in the system to protect school standards and ensure a loss of funding doesn’t hamstring local areas. | She also warned that the government’s planned new school funding formula could hit areas like Liverpool and Manchester hard. “Labour supports fairer funding but these areas are likely to take a big hit. There should be mitigation in the system to protect school standards and ensure a loss of funding doesn’t hamstring local areas. |
| “If the northern powerhouse strategy is to mean anything it must allow local communities the ability to tackle the root causes of low attainment, and not to further centralise schools policy.” | “If the northern powerhouse strategy is to mean anything it must allow local communities the ability to tackle the root causes of low attainment, and not to further centralise schools policy.” |