THE head of Ofsted has used his annual report to call for an inquiry into Bradford's educational failings.

In an outspoken speech, Sir Michael Wilshaw said the district's schools "remain mired in mediocrity, failing generation after generation with depressing regularity", and asked: "What on earth have the political leaders been doing over the years in this major city?"

He gave Bradford as an example of a North-South divide in the nation's schooling performance, and said the situation in the district was now "so bad", that a commission of enquiry should be set up to investigate the problem.

Sir Michael said Bradford was unusual in the North in that both its primaries and secondaries were underperforming.

He said: "Its secondaries are particularly poor – the proportion that are good or better is 34 percentage points adrift of the national average – 34 percentage points!

"Unsurprisingly, the city’s results at key stages 2 and 4 leave it languishing in the bottom 10 per cent of all local authorities.

"Historically, my inspectors tell me that the local authority has been slow to drive improvement, with the result that in the past few years Bradford has fallen even further behind the rest of the country.

"Bradford’s schools have tried various initiatives to try and improve, but improvements have not been sustained.

"Their efforts lacked coordination and, more importantly, the political support that would have made them effective.

"The city’s schools, like too many in the North, remain mired in mediocrity, failing generation after generation with depressing regularity.

"Bradford’s social composition and challenges aren’t that different to London’s East End, which in the main performs very well.

"Bradford is a large local authority. It is responsible for more than 200 schools educating almost 100,000 children, of whom almost 40,000 are in schools that are less than good.

"More than 8,000 of these children are in inadequate schools. What on earth have the political leaders been doing over the years in this major city?

"I believe the situation is so bad that a commission of enquiry should be set up to investigate the problem. Bradford needs its own commissioner.

"Let’s not forget what is at stake. If children are poorly educated, they don’t go to university, they don’t get apprenticeships, they don’t get jobs. "Educational underperformance leads directly to social alienation. And the dangers of being alienated from British society are very great indeed."

Bradford Council's schools boss, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, said turning the district's education system around was its "top priority".

She said: "We have a no excuses culture in education in Bradford. We accept that there has been a historical deficit of achievement in education in Bradford and it is our top priority to turn this round.

We have a plan for school-led improvement, endorsed by Ofsted, which we are implementing as quickly as possible, enabling the outstanding leaders and teachers we have in Bradford to support others to improve faster."

But Cllr Hinchcliffe disagreed that Bradford needed a commissioner to conduct an enquiry, saying she wanted to see "action, not more reviews".

She said: "We've already worked through a plan of action with Ofsted which they've endorsed so it's hard to see what else a Commissioner would do.

"On top of this we've also had an independent review of education by one of the architects of the London Challenge.

"We know what the issues are, they've been well examined already, what we are focussing on now is the speedy implementation of the agreed plan.

"I want to see action, not more reviews. If Ofsted have resources to support the plan of action then that would be more constructive."

Sir Michael said a lack of political will was contributing to a situation which means that of the 173 failing secondary schools in the country, 130 are in the North and Midlands, with only 43 in the South.

His fourth annual Ofsted report found there are 16 local authority areas in England, including Bradford, where fewer than 60 per cent of children attend good or outstanding secondary schools, have lower than national GCSE attainment and make less than national levels of expected progress.

All but three of these are in the North and Midlands.

These other areas are Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Blackpool, Oldham, Doncaster, Barnsley, Stoke-on-Trent, Derbyshire, Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens and Salford.

But the report said Bradford "stands out" as a city where standards have been far too low, for many years, across both primary and secondary schools.

There are almost 40,000 pupils in the Bradford district who attend schools that are less than good and, as a result, pupils in Bradford under-perform compared with national levels on almost every major measure of progress and attainment at ages five, seven, 11 and 16.

"The extent to which under-performing secondary schools are concentrated in particular parts of the country is deeply troubling," the chief inspector of schools said.

"We are witnessing an educational division of the country after age 11, with secondary schools performing well overall in the South but struggling to improve in the North and Midlands.

"The facts are stark. Compared to secondary school children in the South, those in the North and Midlands on average make less progress in English and maths, perform worse at GCSE and attain fewer top grades at A-level.

"If left unaddressed, the consequences will be profound. Our society, our future prosperity and development rely on the better education of our children.

"As things stand, too many secondary schools in the North and Midlands are failing to equip young people with the skills and knowledge they and the country need.

"I fear that unless we resolve these divisions our country's educational progress will be seriously impeded and we will not be able to compete as well with our international competitors."

Sir Michael said more good leaders and teachers, and a greater focus on the most disadvantaged, was needed to turn things around.

His report argues the divide cannot simply be explained away by the higher levels of economic deprivation in the North and Midlands.

It points out there is no difference in the quality of primary schools across the country or in the achievement of seven-year-olds and 11-year-olds at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.

He said the lower standards in secondary schools in the North and Midlands have a direct impact on outcomes for children and young people.

Compared with children and young people in the rest of the country, those living in the North and Midlands make five percentage points less progress from Key Stage 2 to 4 in English and six points less progress in maths. They are also four percentage points behind in achieving five GCSEs grades A* to C, including English and maths.

Sir Michael said there was now an urgent need for the same type of collective action by local politicians, MPs, chief executives and head teachers that was seen in London in the late 1990s to raise secondary school standards in towns across the North and Midlands.

Action is needed at a national level to tackle the issue, including financial incentives to get trainees to start their career in the areas and schools that need them most, and thought given to a form of "golden handcuffs" to encourage teachers to keep on working in the state system that trained them.