Schools fail in three Rs groundwork
More than one third of West Midlands primary schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted are failing to give pupils a good grounding in the three Rs, a study has found.
Across the region, 1,172 primaries are rated in the top two tiers by the watchdog, but only 35 per cent of them are successful when it comes to teaching the basics of reading, writing and adding up.
By the end of their primary education, 11-year-olds are expected to achieve at least Level 4 across the three basic skills.
But researchers from the independent charity New Schools Network found that 410 of the best schools in the West Midlands were falling short of the benchmark.
Nationally, 33.2 per cent of good or outstanding schools failed to hit the target. Research has shown that only six per cent of pupils who do not reach Level 4 go on to achieve five GCSEs at A*- C.
Nick Timothy, director of New Schools Network, said: "This research shows that so-called good schools are not giving children the start to their education that they need in the West Midlands and that more needs to be done to improve accountability in the system as a whole.
"We urgently need hundreds of good, new schools."
