A BRADFORD school has won a rare apology from education watchdog Ofsted after it wrongly slapped a "requires improvement' grading on it.

Staff at Whetley Primary Academy in Girlington were left baffled and distressed by the decision, made after the school's first visit by inspectors, and decided to challenge it.

Osted agreed to look again at its findings, and has now announced that it would upgrade the judgement to "good."

Head teacher Patricia Gavins said inspectors had now got it right, adding: "After we put a formal complaint in and they investigated it they wrote us a very apologetic letter.

"From my experience I've never heard of Ofsted changing an overall judgement before, and neither has anyone I know in teaching. They might change the wording of part of the report but not the overall judgement.

"When the first result came through I was really distressed, it was very difficult for us."

She said staff were now relieved that the report recognises the good work at the school.

The school is run by the Schools Partnership Academies Trust, and the majority of the 680 students at Whetley Academy speak English as a second language. There is also a high number of pupils that join or leave midway through the year.

The Ofsted report says: "Pupils’ achievement, the quality of teaching and behaviour and safety are all good and improving rapidly.

"Pupils enjoy considerable opportunities to explore other cultures through regular international days and visits. The academy’s systems for identifying the needs of those pupils whose second language is English and who join during the school year, are very effective and ensure that these pupils start learning promptly."

It also highlights the performance of pupils of Pakistani and Roma backgrounds in the school, saying they: "Typically make progress that is better than their peers in other schools nationally."

"The substantial gaps that previously existed between pupils’ progress and attainment when compared with national averages and age-related expectations are closing significantly, and in some cases, such as the outcomes in Year 6, exceed expectations," it states.

In a statement about the decision to amend the school's rating, a spokesman said: "Ofsted takes appeals against its inspection judgements very seriously.

"Where concerns are raised by a school, we will consider these carefully, to ensure that the final judgement is firmly rooted in evidence.

"Following a thorough review, it was felt that on this occasion the inspection judgement did not reflect the full evidence presented. We accordingly upgraded the school to ‘good’.”