Northumberland schools praised but more needs to be done to help disadvantaged pupils

Ninety-four per cent of schools in the county are currently judged as good or better by the education watchdog – an all time high for the county.

A total of 53 Ofsted inspections were carried out this year, with 50 being judged to remain or move to good or outstanding, while one schooled improved to a “requires improvement” rating and just two schools saw their ratings fall to below good.

Furthermore, 95% of pupils in the county are now educated at a good or above school. It marks a significant rise from 2017, when just 76% of the county’s schools were rated as good or outstanding.

The council’s director of education David Street said the county’s schools were “looking at a very strong position”.

He continued: “It is the highest percentage of good or outstanding schools we have ever had.”

However, he acknowledged that more needed to be done to help the county’s most disadvantaged pupils.

He said: “What we find when we break down the numbers is that our gap between learners who are disadvantaged in terms of their family income against non-disadvantaged – we have not closed that gap anywhere near enough and in some cases it has grown.

“If our disadvantaged learners don’t do as well as their peers, we would be the best performing local authority in the country. Our partnership working needs to be focused on that.”

Cabinet member for children’s services, Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, said he was “proud” of the figures that put Northumberland well above the national average for Ofsted results.

He said: “These are fantastic numbers around attainment and Ofsted. We often talk about the regional comparison – I’m not interested.

“I like to see us in the national picture. The aim is to get Northumberland as one of the best skills services in the country. We want to be better than everyone else and we’re getting there.”