School won’t let any pupil sit GCSEs

A FREE school has refused to enter any of its pupils for GCSEs over claims they were bound to fail – even though they were previously high-fliers.

Route 39 Academy has been put in special measures by Ofsted after it emerged none of its Year 11 pupils were entered for the exams.

School leaders claimed the teenagers were ‘not ready’, but inspectors said teachers had failed to prepare them properly.

The watchdog pointed out that pupils were of above average ability when they arrived aged 11 according to their Sats results, and suggested the school was to blame for their decline.

It added: ‘ This is an indication that teaching has failed to promote sufficient progress for these pupils. The work of pupils in Year 11 confirms this. It is also clear, however, that there are individual pupils who could have succeeded in public examinations, had they been entered at the usual time.’

Ofsted branded the academy ‘inadequate’ and said that holding back the entire year group was ‘in breach of statutory requirements and the school’s own funding agreement’.

The state-run school – which opened in Higher Clovelly, Devon in 2013 – has a total of 138 pupils on its roll including just 13 in year 11.

It was founded by parents and claims to offer ‘the very best education that the 21st century can provide’.

Christina Woodroffe, one of the governors, is a former senior official at the Department for Education and a former Ofsted inspector. Michael Morpurgo, the award-winning author of War Horse, is among its ‘fellows’.

Ofsted said: ‘The decision to hold back an entire cohort is an unreasonable and unorthodox one.’

The school is challenging the report and believes they have been unfairly judged. Principal Jordan Kelly said he has submitted a 37-page complaint to Ofsted following the report in the hope of a re-inspection.

Route 39 is also challenging the ‘aggressive’ behaviour of the inspectors who visited in June, and claim they ‘did not stick to the Ofsted handbook’.