They are languishing in comprehensives where fewer than 30% of pupils leave with five good GCSEs, including the vital subjects of English and mathematics.
Gordon Brown warned that schools who fail to improve by 2012 could face closure
Gordon Brown insisted last year that it was “no longer acceptable” for schools to fall below the key benchmark and warned that those failing to improve by 2012 would be closed or taken over.
A school-by-school breakdown of GCSE results shows 639 secondary schools – one-in-five – are still short of the target.
