CALLS were last night made by a Bradford MP for an urgent inquiry into why the district has slumped to near the bottom of GCSE performance league tables.

The percentage of Bradford district pupils passing at least five A* - C GCSEs, including English and maths, fell from 53 per cent in 2013 to 44 per cent in last summer's exams.

The results leave Bradford tied with Blackpool in joint second bottom place, with only Knowsley in Merseyside faring worse.

The statistics, published yesterday by the Department for Education, show that 16 Bradford schools have fallen under the Government's "floor" standards, which require at least 40 per cent of students to get five or more A* - C GCSEs including English and maths.

The DfE has warned that such schools could be closed down or turned into academies.

The results are also the first to be compiled under new guidelines which stipulate only first attempts at GCSEs count. Vocational qualifications the Government deems to be "poor quality" have also been stripped from the rankings.

Bradford West MP George Galloway described the district's performance as a "disaster" and cancelled a meeting tonight called "Bradford Challenge" he had arranged to discuss what could be done to improve standards in the district's schools, saying he will now demand an inquiry into what has happened.

"This is shameful. I think we need an inquiry into the disgraceful standard of education in Bradford. Education is not getting better, it is getting worse," said Mr Galloway (Respect) .

"Results like this are a disaster for hundreds of children and their families. There should be no excuses. The people responsible for this need to go."

Last year, the Council commissioned a review by independent consultant Professor David Woods to find ways of improving education.

Councillor Ralph Berry, the Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “These figures show why we are taking radical action.

"We have numerous success stories, which deserve to be congratulated, but the results as a whole demonstrate why we are acting to drive up standards across the board.

“Experts warned local authorities nationally to expect volatility in the figures this year because of major changes to the way exams are assessed, and clearly that has had an impact.

“But regardless of that, as a local authority we are pushing harder than ever to improve outcomes for young people. We have a 'no excuses' culture of improvement.

COMMENT: AN EDUCATION ACTION PLAN NEEDED NOW

"The secondary school partnerships are also pressing ahead in implementing the recommendations from the independent Professor Woods review to deliver rapid and sustainable progress.”

Michael Jameson, the Council's strategic director of children’s services, said: “We are now working closer than ever with schools, including with the Bradford Partnership as part of our work to spread best practice between secondary schools, so families can be assured that we are doing everything in our powers to drive improvement across the district.

”Make no mistake we are now pushing hard for rapid improvements at GCSE.”

But Councillor Debbie Davies, the Conservative spokesman for education, said: "Schools have been back under local authority control for about five years now, but it has been five years of decline, which is a concern.

"We have improvement plans that say schools need to improve so much in the next year or two, but I think we have to be realistic, and just go back to basics.

"Hopefully the Woods report is part of that and we can use that to move ahead rather than blame other people, but it will take time.

"We also need a bigger incentive for teachers to want to come to Bradford."

Liberal Democrat group leader, Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, said: "We need to have some tough conversations about why some groups of young people do not achieve satisfactory levels of English and maths, rather than just trotting out the same excuses."

Ian Murch, Bradford spokesman for the National Union of Teachers, called for extra funding to address some of the issues faced by schools in the district.

"Bradford has always found itself near the bottom of the tables," he said.

"Like other authorities in this position, there is a lot of low income families and families that are new to England.

"Bradford needs to be better funded, but the funding has got worse in comparison with better off places.

"Services like children's centres and family support that are giving children a better start in life and prepare them for when the get to school. "When you take them away it creates a problem.

"When places like Bradford are so low in tables it makes it harder to recruit good teachers.

"If we want things to improve we have to make Bradford a more attractive place that teachers want to come to."

The district's top ranked school for pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades was Bradford Girl's Grammar, followed by Ilkley Grammar School and Feversham College at third.

Girls' Grammar School principal Kathryn Matthews said: "We are incredibly proud of all our students' achievements, and it reflects the hard work, enthusiasm and commitment of both pupils and staff, as well as the incredible support from all the parents."

The lowest ranked school for five or more A* to C grades was Jaamiatul Imaam Muhammad Zakaira independent school in Thornton.

The top ranked school in the district for vocational qualifications was Bingley Grammar School, followed by Beckfoot School, also in Bingley.

* An initial report on the tables published on the T&A's website yesterday incorrectly stated Bradford College had come bottom of the district's league table for GCSE results. The College's ranking was in fact in relation to vocational results, such as BTECs and NVQs. We apologise for any confusion caused by the error.

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