‘Coasting schools’ face tough exam targets
By Sean Coughlan
Education correspondent
30 June 2015
From the section Education & Family
Schools will have a new exam target to stay above the “coasting” category
Schools in England will face tougher exam targets, under plans announced by Education Secretary Nicky Morgan.
Those falling below the targets, including some rated as “good” by Ofsted, will be labelled as “coasting”.
The new threshold for secondary schools will require 60% of pupils to achieve five good GCSEs, including English and maths.
“I’m unapologetic about shining a spotlight on complacency,” said Mrs Morgan.
“For too long a group of coasting schools, many in leafy areas with more advantages than schools in disadvantaged communities, have fallen beneath the radar,” said the education secretary.
The education department says that “hundreds” of schools will have to raise their results to meet these higher expectations.
Stretching targets
But head teachers’ leader Brian Lightman said the definitions for this new category were “muddled and unfair”.
Schools falling into this coasting category will be given help to improve, but those that fail to make progress could be turned into academies. The classification will be based on three years of results.
Nicky Morgan says she wants to “shine a light on complacency”
Source:: BBC UK
