Darling brings schools plan forward

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More than 600 secondary schools have been given three years to improve or face closure as the Government stepped up its drive to raise standards.

Chancellor Alistair Darling brought forward the deadline to meet Gordon Brown's key target for there to be no schools where fewer than 30% of pupils achieve five good GCSEs.

The 638 secondary schools currently in this position - a fifth of the total in England - must meet the target by 2011, a year earlier than previously planned.

The Chancellor said £200 million would be spent on raising standards in weak schools.

Mr Darling told MPs: "If we are to compete in the future it is essential to do even more to drive up standards in education and to improve skills. We have cut the number of underperforming schools dramatically in the last decade.

"And building on last year's Spending Review, we will raise standards even further to create greater opportunity for all children. The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (Ed Balls) will be investing £200 million to bring forward by a year to 2011 the Government's aim for no schools to have fewer than 30% of its pupils achieving five A*-C GCSEs, including English and maths."

The Treasury said that the Government would expect all schools to have reached this target by 2011 or they would "be subject to formal intervention".

Ministers have suggested that this could include schools being taken over or turned into privately run academies, and in some cases closed.

An initiative that has improved education in London is being expanded across England. The best headteachers will help turn around weak comprehensives, while top schools will be encouraged to link up with those that are struggling.

Mr Darling said: "As a result, by 2011 we will ensure that every school is an improving school meeting the standards we have set."