88% of city schools now Good or Outstanding – highest ever

More schools in Wolverhampton are now rated either Good or Outstanding by Ofsted than ever before.

Latest figures show 88% of schools with a current Ofsted judgement were rated Good or Outstanding by inspectors. That is up from 79% five years ago and puts Wolverhampton above both the regional and the national average.

Councillor Chris Burden, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education, Skills and Work, said: "This is brilliant news for our city, and particularly for our children and young people.

"It has been achieved thanks to the hard work and dedication of our education leaders, school staff, pupils and parents, through excellent collaboration between schools and the council, through the use of high performing schools to help those needing development, and thanks to a strong commitment from the council to school improvement through our Education Excellence strategy.

"We also have ambitious political leadership which wants the very best for our children and young people, both in education and in all other aspects of their formative years."

A number of local schools have recorded improved inspection results recently, including Ormiston NEW Academy which became Good for the first time in April.

Councillor Burden added: "We are determined to continue on this journey of improvement and, by supporting schools to improve and challenging where performance is below where it ought to be, we expect more schools to become Good or Outstanding in due course.

"What is clear is that there has never been a better time to be a pupil in Wolverhampton, and for that we should thank everyone working in our education system today."

The Education Excellence Strategy 2021-24, written in partnership with school and other leaders, enables the council to monitor the performance of schools and ensure that, where improvements are necessary, these are carried out effectively.

It highlights the importance of good governance, the training and development of school staff and closer collaboration between schools, including targeted peer to peer reviews which are seen as pivotal to helping schools improve.

And it is underpinned by a commitment to promote and advance equality of access and opportunity across all settings, to ensure no child or young person is left behind and to enable the best possible outcomes for all.