Disadvantaged pupils should not be used as an excuse for chronically under-achieving schools, the head of Ofsted has warned.
Amanda Spielman, the education watchdog’s chief inspector, hit out at a culture of “disadvantage one-upmanship” as she unveiled her first annual report.
It shows that 135 schools in England have not recorded a good inspection in the last 10 years despite receiving “considerable attention and investment”.
Others facing similar challenges have been able to achieve success, showing improvement is possible, it states.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said Ofsted could be part of the problem, while shadow education secretary Angela Rayner said schools were struggling with Government policies.
Speaking at the launch of the report, Ms Spielman said: “There is no doubt that the leadership challenge facing some schools is great.
“But progress is possible and we should all be wary of using the make-up of a school community as an excuse for under-performance.
“I do find myself frustrated with the culture of ‘disadvantage one-upmanship’ that has emerged in some places.”
More than 500 primary schools and around 200 secondaries have been judged as requiring improvement or being satisfactory at their last two inspections, according to the report.
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A total of 135 schools have failed to record a good or outstanding Ofsted inspection since 2005, including around 80 primary and 50 secondary schools.
A total of 129 schools were recorded as being open in 2016/17, while six were recorded as being closed.
Unstable leadership, high staff turnover and difficulties recruiting were noted as shared characteristics between these schools, while many have high proportions of pupils from deprived areas.
Ms Rayner said the Government had created problems with teachers’ pay and recruitment while driving up their workload.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The Government have missed their teacher recruitment target.
“One in three of our Sure Start centres have closed. Many teachers have lost up to £5,000 of their real-terms wage over this period.
“But it’s not just about money … (it’s) the workload, the pace of change, the difficulty with restrictions and being able to give every child those opportunities. The chief of Ofsted has raised these issues.”
Mr Barton, of the ASCL, said: “We welcome Ofsted’s plans to undertake research into why some schools get trapped in cycles of underperformance, and its acknowledgement that this does not mean there is a lack of desire to improve.
“Its research needs to include looking at the stigmatising impact of Ofsted judgements and government performance measures, which make it difficult to recruit leaders and teachers, and which deter some parents from sending their children to these schools.
“It may be that our high-stakes accountability system is in itself at least partially responsible for trapping schools in a cycle from which it is very difficult to escape.”
In her speech, Ms Spielman called for greater support and leadership for struggling schools.
She said: “Fixating on all the things holding schools back can distract us all from working on the things that take them forward.
“Schools with all ranges of children can and do succeed.”
Overall, education and care provided to young people is “better than ever”, with around 90% of primary schools and 79% of secondaries rated good or outstanding, the report said.
Ms Rayner said it was not enough for the Government to focus on geographical areas regarded as having fallen behind in terms of social mobility.
“Some of our most vulnerable children … have been failed by this Government’s policies,” she told the Today programme.
“We have got to start addressing that issue. Just dealing with the opportunity areas is not enough. Ofsted is quite clear that it is not about areas in particular, it’s schools that are still not able to raise their standards and raise their game.”
School standards minister Nick Gibb said: “Standards are rising in both primary and secondary schools.
“The report recognises the widespread good practice and continual improvement across the system but we know there is more to do to tackle consistent under-performance.
“We are targeting the areas that need the most support through our Opportunity Areas and by investing £280 million over the next two years to target resources at the schools most in need to improve school performance and deliver more good school places.
“Having excellent teachers in our most challenging schools is also key to school improvement, which is why we’re investing £75 million in teachers’ professional development and announced a further £42 million for training in the Budget.”