39% of schools only 'satisfactory'

Almost half of schools in England are not giving pupils a good enough education, inspectors said.

More than a third (39%) of schools inspected in the autumn and spring terms of 2010/11 were only found to be satisfactory, while 6% were declared "inadequate", according to figures published by Ofsted.

Just one in 10 (10%) of the schools inspected was found to be outstanding.

Overall, 45%, around 1,800 schools, were judged to be satisfactory or inadequate - effectively not good enough.

Nearly half (44%) of the 4,062 schools inspected between September 1 and April 1 were judged to be "good", the figures show.

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: "Ofsted's current school inspection arrangements set out to be more challenging to schools, so it is encouraging to see 54% were judged good or outstanding.

"Greater involvement of headteachers and senior staff in the inspection process is helping schools better understand areas for development and action."

Ofsted said it has been prioritising the inspection of weaker schools, and since last September the inspection of outstanding schools has been deferred, unless data indicates a decline in standards.

There is no direct comparison with the overall numbers of schools declared inadequate, satisfactory, good and outstanding in previous years, the watchdog said.

Data for the whole of the academic year 2009/10 show that eight percent of schools inspected were found to be inadequate, 37% were satisfactory, 43% were good and 13% were outstanding.