£28m bid to raise school standards

Schools Minister Jim Knight today promised the Black Country's children new opportunities to break free from the area's cycle of industrial decline.

Speaking ahead of a visit to the area tomorrow to officially launch the Government's Black Country Challenge to improve GCSE standards in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall and Sandwell, he said the project offered "an opportunity to really take the Black Country forward". The scheme will see around £28 million in extra funding in the area.

It will be made available to improve the schooling of children in deprived areas of the four boroughs.

The money will be targeted at schools where less than 30 per cent of students obtain GCSEs in English and maths.

It can be spent on teacher recruitment schemes, booster classes for GCSE students and new school organisations, such as federations, trusts and academies – promising extra help for headteachers, staff, pupils and parents to boost attainment.

The move is an extension of a scheme which has already proven to be a success in London.

It forms part of the Government's nationwide ambition for no school to have less than 30 per cent of its pupils achieving five A* to C grades at GCSE – including English and maths – by 2011.

The minister insisted that he wanted to see all schools, not just the low-performers, improve their performance across the whole of the Black Country.

Mr Knight said: "Education here is improving.

"The proportion of pupils getting five good GCSEs has already increased by 11 percentage points since 1997.

"But it is not improving fast enough.

"One of our focuses will be to increase the number of pupils gaining five good GCSEs including English and maths.

"There are also wide variations between schools and one of the benefits the Challenge can bring is at a very practical level – to share what works and build on this."