David Cameron goes to war on Britain's 'coasting schools'

He says that while it is “relatively easy” to identify problem schools, it is just as important to tackle those that are resigned to mediocrity.

“It is just as important to tackle those all over the country content to muddle through — places where respectable results and a decent local reputation mask a failure to meet potential,” he writes.

“Children who did well in primary school but who lose momentum. Early promise fades. This is the hidden crisis in our schools — in prosperous shires and market towns just as much as in the inner cities.”

In January, new league tables will be published that will show how low-, middle- and high-achieving children are performing in their schools.

In June, a new national pupil database will be introduced to show how pupils have progressed during their time in school. The data will not disclose any names but should allow parents to identify schools that are better at pushing certain pupils in different subjects.

Mr Cameron writes: “This challenge is one for all parts of the country — places where governors, parents and teachers might never guess things might be wrong. That’s why it is vital to shine a spotlight on secret failure by giving people the information they need to fight for change.

“The last government shied away from the problem. It kept huge amounts of data under wraps — focusing only on league tables which seemed to show things were getting better every year. It set a narrow definition of coasting schools which allowed many to slip through the net undetected. By contrast, this Government is going to widen it so that more average schools are pressed to do better.”

The Prime Minister says Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, one of the most deprived areas in Britain, is now achieving far higher marks than comprehensives in middle-class areas across the Home Counties.

“The point of education is to change lives — it’s not good enough for teachers in shire counties to be satisfied with half of children getting five good GCSEs, when Mossbourne Academy achieves 82 per cent in Hackney,” writes Mr Cameron.

“When people involved in education can see what needs to be done to get out of a rut — and are given the freedom to make their own choices rather than orders from above — dramatic improvement is possible. Goffs School in Cheshunt, for instance, went from barely half its pupils achieving five good GCSEs including English and maths, to almost three quarters in a single year.”

It is understood that the Government has decided against sending “hit squads” into comprehensives identified as “coasting”. Ministers instead hope that by publicly identifying failing schools, parents and governors will put staff under intense pressure to improve standards.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the incoming head of Ofsted, previously warned that the watchdog needed to do more to tackle teachers who were coasting.

He said extra effort was needed to identify “the teacher … who year in, year out just comes up to the mark, but only just, and does the bare minimum”.

The Government is also giving permission for dozens of new free schools, effectively independent schools paid for by taxpayers within the state system, across the country. Mr Cameron says he wants these schools to be the “shock troops of innovation” who will “smash through complacency”.

The Coalition is also relaxing admissions and expansion rules for successful schools, which is expected to lead to an increase in grammar school places.

Yesterday, it emerged that some grammar schools are planning to take over schools in neighbouring towns — effectively leading to the creation of the first new grammar schools since the 1960s.

Graham Brady, chairman of the Conservatives’ backbench 1922 Committee, said it was a “small but important step”.

David Willetts warns over 'striking' university gender gap

Women are much more likely to go to university than men, according to David Willetts.?Photo: GETTY IMAGES

David Willetts, the Universities Minister, told how just four in 10 men now went on to graduate with a degree compared with half of women.

He said the gulf in educational achievement between men and women was a major challenge for society.

The comment comes amid ongoing concerns over the gender divide.

According to figures, boys fall dramatically behind girls after just a year of school and the divide widens throughout primary and secondary education.

This year, more than 26 per cent of GCSEs taken by girls were graded an A compared with less than 20 per cent of boys’ exams – a record gulf.

Data also shows that women in their 20s now earn, on average, more than men of the same age.

In an interview on Sunday, Mr Willetts said the gap could result in “changes in the pattern of household living” as women become the dominant wage earner.

“There is now a rather striking gap, if we look at the statistics, where it looks as if approximately 50 per cent of women are graduating from university by the time they are 30 and perhaps about 40 per cent of men," he said.

"This is where the sociologists step in and people think through the implications of that but we have got a gap in educational performance here that goes all the way through our schools and universities, and I want to see an improvement in educational opportunities for men and women because it does look as if the challenge we particularly face in our society at the moment is that the boys are lagging behind the girls.”

Speaking to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News, Mr Willetts added: “It may, in turn, shift balance of earnings between women and men because it connects with what I was saying earlier that, by and large, graduates earn more.

"It may lead to changes in the pattern of household living, so there are some deep questions here and I think these are questions that, as a society, we should focus on."

Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute shows that women now outnumber men at every type of university, including top research institutions and former polytechnics.

They are also more likely to get a 2:1 degree pass and are less likely to drop out.

The changes have already had an impact on women’s earnings potential, it is claimed.

Separate data presented last month by Mary Curnock Cook, the head of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, showed that women aged between 22 and 29 now earn just over ￡10 an hour, compared with less than ￡10 for men.