School inequality 'unacceptable'

Nov 27 2012

A child's chances of gaining a decent education are still far too dependent on where they live, with some facing a less than 50% chance of attending a good school, Ofsted's chief inspector has warned.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, in his first annual report, warns that there are stark inequalities in England's education system.

He said it is "completely unacceptable" that some children have a 90% chance of attending a decent school, while others have half that.

He is likely to say that in future, rather than simply looking at schools individually, Ofsted will also look at how they are performing across local areas.

Sir Michael is expected to call for a league table of local councils, based on inspectors judgments of their schools.

Speaking ahead of the report being published, Sir Michael told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We are comparing today similar sorts of local authorities, with similar demographics, similar numbers of children on free school meals, similar levels of deprivation, so we have tried to be as fair as possible.

"We'll be asking a question - why is it parents in some parts of the country have less than a 50% chance of getting their children into a good primary school where there are other parts of the country where that chance is over 90%?

"It is a dramatic difference and it's not on. It's completely unacceptable and we need to find out what on earth is happening in these areas where there is such poor provision.

"It's not just a question of naming and shaming. We really want to find out what's happening so we can disseminate the good practice that is happening in particular areas and make that more widely known."