AN education expert brought in to help lift Bradford's schools from the bottom of league tables says he is "confident" results will have noticeably improved by next year.

Professor David Woods has helped turn around London's under performing education system, as well as being an advisor for Birmingham schools, and last year was contacted by Bradford Council to look at ways of improving school performance here.

His subsequent report said efforts to improve schools were moving too slowly, and suggested several ways to quicken the pace.

The council has taken many of his suggestions on board, and Prof Woods has told the T&A that he believes that by the summer of 2016 the changes could be positively effecting Bradford's league table standings.

Prof Woods said: "I think things have begun to change and I have already seen new ways of working. I am pretty confident the systems are in place that so results will be slightly better this summer, and by 2016 the reforms should be in place that we should be that we see a considerable change."

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He believes that by 2017 results could be approaching the national average.

He said: "It is not that people weren't willing to try, but there needed to be a greater sense of urgency. Bradford has the potential to do much better than it is doing. There are some issues, but all big cities can say they have areas of deprivation. If that is the case why do schools in other cities perform better than in Bradford. Demographics and deprivation do not have to determine destiny."

The London Challenge was set up to improve the capital's failing school system in 2002, and within a few years the area was outperforming much of the country.

Prof Woods said: "People in Bradford are up for the challenge, and it is a big city, it has a lot of clout about it, but it has to punch its weight.

"There is brilliant work going on in schools in Bradford, and we have to find where it is and how to share it. That is beginning to happen with the partnerships that have been created.

"What I have noticed is that the people in Bradford really want to work together, more than many places I've been to.

"The big challenge for Bradford is to get to the national average, that would be a huge step forward and it is achievable."

He does not believe more funding would necessarily turn things around, adding: "Money doesn't always translate into better outcomes. I think Bradford can achieve change with what it has."

After speaking to the T&A, Prof Woods addressed the council's Children's Services Scrutiny Committee. He urged the council to come up with its own markets of success, and not just focus on league tables and Ofsted reports.

He also called for the different groups working to improve schools to be more accountable.

Chairman Councillor Malcolm Sykes (Cons) admitted: "Sometime we haven't been tough enough."