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Where schools are failing we will take measures, vows Education Minister Nick Gibb

The Government's education minister has vowed that failing schools across the Black Country will improve under tough new measures set out in the Conservatives' manifesto plans.

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Nick Gibb MP said the Government would be 'speeding up the process' of dealing with underperforming schools as part of a clampdown on failure.

The league tables showed that thousands of students at secondary schools in the region failed to achieve benchmark standard GCSE results last year. All four Black Country authorities were in the bottom third in the country, with Wolverhampton slumping to 145th for GCSE standards.

The tables also highlighted dozens of underperforming academies.

Mr Gibb was speaking during a visit to Highfields School in Penn, Wolverhampton, where he saw how students are being encouraged to use technology to assist their learning.

The school, which is maintained by Wolverhampton City Council, boasts some of the city's best GCSE results and was rated 'good' by Ofsted in its last inspection report.

The minister said: "Many academies that are not doing well were failing before they became academies.

The academies system enables us to act swiftly. Under local authority control there is no mechanism for ensuring schools improve. There are now more than one million more children taught in good or outstanding schools than in 2010.

"Where schools are failing we will take measures to make sure things improve."

The Government has announced that should it succeed in the next election all primary and secondary schools rated as 'requiring improvement' or 'inadequate' by Ofsted could be given new leadership and converted to academies.

During his visit the minister praised Highfields School, which finished in fifth place in the city in the GCSE league tables with results comfortably exceeding the national average.

"This is a very good school, with a high standard of academic achievement," said Mr Gibb.

"Behaviour is key in any school. It forms a key part of the Government's policy and here it seems to be excellent."

Mr Gibb also spoke with staff and pupils at Blanford Mere Primary School in Kingswinford.

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