Half of England’s secondary schools do not give pupils a good education, Ofsted reported today.

One in 10 secondaries inspected in the past year was judged “inadequate”, inspectors said, and a further 39 per cent merely "satisfactory".

Despite improvements in the past 12 months, Christine Gilbert, the Ofsted Chief Inspector, said that she was still concerned at the high numbers of failing schools.

In her annual report, Ms Gilbert highlighted a series of shortcomings in the education system - from poor behaviour to pupils’ ignorance of what “Britishness” meant. “I make no apology for emphasising our ambition and our sense of urgency,” she said. “I see no reason why every school should not now aspire to be a good school."

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She added: “The proportion of inadequate secondary schools has fallen from 13 per cent in 2005-06 to 10 per cent this year, but the figure is still too high and is a cause for significant concern.”

The annual report found there were improvements in school standards over the past year, with 14 per cent of schools overall judged to be “outstanding”, up from 11 per cent last year. Primary and nursery schools were among the best performers.

But other findings included:

• 49 per cent of secondaries were rated no better than “satisfactory”, which is no longer deemed good enough;
• One in seven, or 16 per cent , of children’s homes were inadequate

Overall, 552 state schools of all types were in “special measures” - Ofsted’s lowest category - by the summer term this year. This was up from the 520 schools in special measures at the same point last year, but the rise was due to the fact that inspectors visited more schools. As a proportion, fewer schools were in special measures this year.

However, Ofsted expressed concern over behaviour, which was “just satisfactory” in 29 per cent of secondary schools. Problems were fuelled in part by dull lessons that turn pupils off - the report suggested that the best way to improve behaviour was through good teaching.

“In weaker lessons, tasks are often mundane, providing little scope for thought-provoking work,” it said. “As a result, behaviour often deteriorates and achievement suffers.”

Ms Gilbert said that improving behaviour must be a key priority. “Every child has the right to feel safe in school. And any behaviour which has a negative impact on their learning is unacceptable,” she said.

The report gave warning that too often pupils from poor backgrounds were let down by the education system. It said that more than 200,000 16 to 18-year-olds are not in school, work or training.

“The risk to young lives behind these statistics is alarming and unacceptable: over 200,000 young people without a foot in the door to the world of work,” she said.“It is frankly hard to find encouragement from our inspection evidence.”

Ms Gilbert also cautioned that schools were not giving children a clear understanding of their own identity and “what it means to be British”. “Young people understand less than they should about how our democracy works, the forces which have shaped it and its values, history and heritage: in short, what we understand by ’Britishness’ in the contemporary world,” she said.

Citizenship lessons, which have been compulsory in secondary schools for several years, fail to focus enough on “diversity in Britain in a rapidly changing world”, she said. There are also shortcomings in history lessons and religious education.

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