More Support for National Challenge Schools

The funding will be allocated from September, to give the schools additional support over the next academic year.

Mr Balls also announced his approval of a further five National Challenge Trust Schools, in addition to the 16 already approved and said that he expected local authorities to continue to work in partnership with the schools to achieve the best results.

The National Challenge Programme was introduced in June 2008 to improve the result of schools in which fewer than 30 per cent of pupils gained five GCSE’s including English and Maths at grade C and above.

The number of National Challenge schools has come down to 440 compared to more than 630 last year, meaning that the government is on track to have no school below the 30 per cent by 2011.

The programme aims to break the link between deprivation and attainment and offers schools a range of tailored support measures including one-to-one tuition for pupils, learning mentors, extra revision support and plans to address pupil disengagement.

Ed Balls said: “The evidence we are getting is that schools are now seeing real benefits from the additional support they are receiving through the National Challenge programme. This is enabling Headteachers to continue their drive to raise standards, often in the most challenging schools. Today’s funding will allow schools to plan for the next academic year and build on predicted improvements in this year’s GCSE results.

“There has been much progress with the National Challenge, with most schools embracing a blend of support to help accelerate improvements. In the very few schools where we still don’t see enough progress to meet our minimum standard of 30 per cent of pupils gaining five good GCSEs, including maths and English by 2011, we will we continue to work closely with them to ensure the right solutions are brokered to ensure every child gets a good education.”

The funding each school will receive to provide a bespoke package of support is allocated following careful consideration of each schools’ needs, increasing for those requiring most support.