Secondary schools in Kensington & Chelsea and in Hammersmith & Fulham are the best in the country, according to a recent report by Ofsted.
Ofsted, the official body for inspecting schools, released figures this week showing that all pupils in Conservative-run K&C and H&F – 100 per cent – attend ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ secondary schools.
The boroughs are two of only nine out of 151 English local authorities to achieve this feat.
Greg Hands M.P. said: "Providing a high quality state education for local teenagers should be the top priority for any local council, and that is clearly the case for my two Conservative councils. These two councils are at the very centre of schools reform in this country, with new secondaries like the Chelsea Academy, the West London free School and the Hammersmith Academy opening since the General Election. meanwhile, Michael Gove's school reforms have helped previously struggling schools to up their game, and we now have a situation where no school is lagging. There is still much to be done however. We need more school places, and we need exam reform."
Councillor Elizabeth Campbell, Cabinet Member for Family and Children's Services in the Royal Borough, said: "This is good news for parents and follows on from record GCSE results this summer. We are very proud of our schools and work is now underway to build a new secondary school, the Kensington Aldridge Academy, in the north of the borough."
Cllr Helen Binmore, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services in Hammersmith & Fulham, said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the borough, our schools, teachers, pupils and parents. This council is committed to providing a borough of opportunity. Providing schools of choice is a key element of this strategy which means offering parents a real choice of good schools. It has been a joint effort to raise standards in our schools over the past few years and to make them places where our children, no matter what their background or circumstances, can get a first-class education and learn skills that are vital for their future and development.
“I am absolutely thrilled that our schools are getting the recognition they deserve and that our young people are getting the most out of their time in school.”
The improvement in schools in H&F has been significant - in 2006, six out of eight secondary schools were deemed to be good or outstanding, with four out of five (81%) of pupils attending a good or outstanding school. This is now at 100%.
The annual report published all results for secondary schools, including academies, in England, and shows that schools in the capital are better than the national average. Eighty per cent of London’s secondary schools are now good or outstanding compared with 66 per cent nationally. And 69 per cent of the poorest children in the capital go to good schools, compared with 45 per cent in the south-east.
The London local authority to have the lowest percentage of pupils attending good or outstanding schools is Merton, at 45 per cent, while nationally it is Barnsley, with only 20 per cent.
Ofsted’s primary school figures also show that H&F is in the top 20% of schools, coming 29th out of 151 local authorities. Twenty-eight out of 34 primary schools in H&F are currently deemed good or outstanding by Ofsted inspectors, with 79% of pupils attending a good or outstanding school in the borough.
The report also shows that 83% of all schools – nursery, primary, secondary, special and pupil referral units – in H&F are good or outstanding, putting H&F as the ninth best in London.Figures released on Tuesday 27th November show that Kensington and Chelsea is one of only nine local education authorities in the country where 100 per cent of pupils attend secondary schools judged by Ofsted to be good or outstanding.