Gordon Brown yesterday threatened to shut down hundreds of failing schools.

The PM said: “It is time to say not just that we will aim high but that we can no longer tolerate failure.

“No longer will it be acceptable for any child to fall behind.”

Mr Brown insisted that underperforming secondaries must improve exam pass rates. There are now 670 schools in England and Wales where fewer than 30 per cent of pupils get five A to C grades in their GCSEs.

They will be given improvement targets to hit and boards will take over if they are missed.

Then, Mr Brown warned, those which failed again would face “closure or takeover by a successful neighbouring school”.

He pledged the plan would mean no school would have below 30 per cent of pupils getting five good GCSEs by 2012. In his speech at the University of Greenwich in London, he added that he wanted parents involved “at every stage of the journey of their children’s education“…

Source: Mirror.co.uk, UK
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