SCHOOLS in Middlesbrough are being well supported and challenged to improve by the council, Ofsted have said in a new report.

Ofsted inspectors found Middlesbrough Council has made significant improvements since its school support was judged ineffective in January 2014.

The report said this proved a catalyst for improvement and, over the last 15 months, the council had taken big strides to help the borough's pupils get a better education.

Primary school pupils are now doing better than before - and while attainment at Key Stages 1 and 2 are improving, they remain below national averages. The gap in performance between disadvantaged pupils and others is also narrowing.

In the town's secondary schools, the pace of improvement is getting better although there is still room for progress, particularly in maths.

The proportion of secondary schools judged good or outstanding is still well below the national average while the number of students achieving five GCSE passes at grades A* to C including English and maths is also well below national average, despite recording a higher rate of improvement.

The number of youngsters not in education, employment or training has fallen significantly and is now in line with the national figures.

The inspectors found Middlesbrough Council has strengthened its arrangements for school improvement with programmes such as the School Effectiveness Strategy, which has seen headteachers and school leaders meeting regularly with the council to discuss best practice.

More broadly, Ofsted found that education is now an integral part of council strategy - which hopes higher standards of education will help regenerate the area's economy.

Nick Hudson, Ofsted Director for North East, Yorkshire and Humber, said: "More than a year ago Ofsted found that school improvement support in Middlesbrough was ineffective. I am really pleased that things have got much better since then.

“After the Ofsted report early last year Middlesbrough Council made school improvement a priority. Councillors, senior local authority officials, headteachers and other school leaders have worked well together.

“Their results are impressive. Pupils are on the whole doing better at primary school while improvement rates in the city’s secondary schools are greater than the national average, for poorer pupils as well as their wealthier peers. That is what parents and pupils want and deserve.”

However, the report did find areas for improvement and says schools meed to raise achievement across all years and reduce the attainment gap between disadvantaged and other pupils.

Ofsted also found that the main driver for improvement, the Middlesbrough Achievement Partnership - an alliance of all schools and the council to support developments and monitor their outcomes - was not as widely understood by school leaders as it should be.