Ofsted's annual report reveals wide variations in school improvement

The number of schools judged good or better has now risen to 70 per cent – up from 66 per cent three years ago. Inspectors also rated almost 1,000 more schools as outstanding last year than they did in 2008/09.

The improvement means nearly half a million more pupils are now in good or better schools. However, differences between local areas reveal patchy education provision across the country.

In Dorset and Northumberland more than four-fifths of children attend good or outstanding primary schools, compared to just 59 per cent in Shropshire and 56 per cent in North East Lincolnshire.

“The inequities for local children are stark. This is completely unacceptable,” said HM chief inspector Michael Wilshaw. “We need to find out what is happening, and inspect where necessary. We will also work with local areas to support them and help them link up with best practice.”

The report found that sponsor-led academies are doing better than independent academies, with a quarter of those in sponsor-led chains judged outstanding, compared to eight per cent of indepenent academies.

“Most of the sponsored academies that we have inspected are better than the poor quality schools they replaced,” Wilshaw said.

In terms of early years settings, Wilshaw argued that struggling providers could be improved by joining forces with good schools or children’s centres.

He said inspections results showed improvements in early years provision, with 74 per cent of setting rated good or better, compared to 65 per cent three years ago.

However, inspectors also found more than a third of children are not meeting the required level of progress in communication, language and literacy by the end of the the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). “I see significant room for improvement in this area,” Wilshaw said. 

The report was based on findings from almost 25,000 inspections of early years and childcare settings, schools, colleges and adult learning and skills carried out in England from 2011 to 2012.