A BRADFORD secondary school which was strongly criticised by Government inspectors earlier this year is still not doing enough to protect students "from risks of extremism", a new report states.

Carlton Bolling College in Undercliffe was given an "inadequate" rating in July, with Bradford Council sacking the entire board of governors who were deemed by inspectors as being an "obstacle to improvement".

They were replaced by an interim executive board of governors, brought in to improve the school.

However, the latest report published after inspectors returned to the school last month states that many of their original criticisms have not been dealt with - a situation they call "unacceptable."

Their monitoring inspection report also reveals that leaders at the school are looking at converting it to an academy.

Inspectors concluded that although the Council's "statement of action" to improve the school was fit for purpose, the school's improvement plan was not.

In a letter written to head teacher Adrian Kneeshaw, inspector Michael Maddison says: "At the last inspection the school was criticised because its policy failed to give necessary attention to the potential risks posed by extremism. The current policy has not rectified this situation. As a result the criticism from the last inspection is still valid. This is unacceptable."

The school is also criticised for how it handles pupil premium - extra money given to the school to help improve achievement for pupils from low income families. The first report said the school needed to review how it is spent. But the latest report says: "There has been little substantive progress on commissioning a review of the school's use of pupil premium. This is also unacceptable."

It does, however, conclude that the school has "ambitious" plans to improve standards.

Mr Kneeshaw said: "This report recognises that me and my leadership team are clear in our resolve to bring about the necessary changes and it acknowledges that our plans for the school are extremely ambitious.

"Nevertheless we accept the specific issues the report has raised in terms of how we have set out our plans. In light of this we have already re-modelled our plans to meet the expected standard - this demonstrates how serious we are about taking whatever action is necessary, without delay.

"Safeguarding is of course our key priority and this issue was on the agenda for the IEB's meeting the week after the inspectors visited us and the new policy has already been ratified.

"We accept there is still plenty of work to do accelerate the improvement process, but my colleagues and I continue to do all we can to drive up standards."

Michael Jameson, the Council's strategic director of children's services, said: "This latest monitoring report confirms that there is still plenty of work to do for Carlton Bolling College to deliver the rapid improvements we expect.

"The report finds that senior leaders, the IEB and the Council are clear in their resolve to implement necessary changes and that the Council's statement of action is fit for purpose.

"However, we are working urgently in partnership with the school and the IEB to ensure that other issues raised in this report are addressed, and addressed without delay, especially in relation to Carlton Bolling College's child protection and safeguarding policy."

Councillor Ralph Berry, executive for children's services, said all schools with IEBs imposed on them were required to look into becoming academies.

He added: "I'm not convinced that academies are always the answer to schools. I wouldn't want an academy conversion to distract from dealing with some of the issues at the school."