92 per cent of Bedford secondary schools are 'good' or 'outstanding'

The report also showed that in Bedford 79 per cent of primary schools were judged to be 'good' or 'outstanding', which is eight per cent lower than the national average.

The latest findings are from Ofsted's annual report for 2018/19, which gives a picture of the performance of early years, schools, further education and skills, and social care providers in England.

The Average Attainment (A8) score for Bedford schools was 45, the national average A8 score was 47. A8 measures the average achievement of pupils in up to eight qualifications, including English, maths, three qualifications which count towards EBacc and three other qualification from the DfE approved list.

In the East of England Ofsted has rated 85 per cent of school as 'good' or 'outstanding', and 54 schools were considered to be 'stuck' - judged 'requires improvement' or 'inadequate' for every inspection since September 2006.

Paul Brooker, Ofsted Director for the East of England, said: "This year’s annual report reflects the fact that social care and education provision in the East of England remain strong.

"Our region serves its pupils well. High quality early years settings ensure that children get off to a good start in the early years, and most of our primary and secondary schools are at least good too.

"In contrast, our further education and skills providers have had rather a mixed year, and still lag behind the national picture.

"Inspection is, of course, not just about looking at exam results, and the circumstances of a school are reflected through all sorts of other information, such as pupil safety, attendance, exclusions and pupil mobility.

"Inspectors also listen carefully to the views of parents, staff and pupils. Since September, our sharper focus on the wider curriculum has been much better at assessing the overall quality of education in a school or college.

"As a region, we remain concerned about how well we support our most vulnerable pupils, particularly children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"We still don’t do well enough here. For example, our area-wide inspections of special educational needs provision highlight significant weaknesses right across the region.

"Almost all the localities inspected in the last couple of years have been required to produce a written statement of action to set out how they will make better provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities."