SCHOOL quality is a postcode lottery, according to a report by Ofsted about the standard of education across the country.

Nearly a third of primary and secondary schools in Lancashire are rated as below standard, according to figures out today.

Statistics in Ofsted’s annual report show one per cent of Lancashire primary schools are inadequate, and 30 per cent rated satisfactory – a category which has been replaced with ‘requires improvement’ by the independent body.

A further 51 per cent were rated good, and 18 per cent outstanding.

In Lancashire secondary schools, two per cent were inadequate, and 37 per cent satisfactory. A further 37 per cent were rated good, and 24 per cent outstanding.

Blackburn with Darwen’s figures showed five per cent of primary schools were inadequate, 20 per cent satisfactory, 65 per cent received a good rating and nine per cent were outstanding.

Fifty per cent of secondary schools received a satisfactory with 40 per cent receiving good and 10 per cent outstanding.

The figures ranked Blackburn with Darwen 62nd and Lancashire 89th of 150 authorities, with 71 and 67 per cent of pupils at good or outstanding schools in that area.

The table comes after education secretary Michael Gove wrote to Lancashire MPs expressing his concerns about the number of ‘failing schools’ in Lancashire.

But Lancashire County Council’s leader Geoff Driver, has hit back at his own party accusing them of resorting to ‘bully boy tactics’ to drum up support for academies and failing to acknowledge major improvements in local authority schools.

Sue Gregory, national director for action at Ofsted, said: “In Lancashire there are some very good schools, but there aren’t enough. If a school is not rated good, then it is not good enough.”

She said schools which converted to academies were performing better on the whole. She also noted those sponsored academies belonging to a chain were performing better than stand-alone academies.

There are two primary and seven secondary academies in East Lancashire.

In a letter to headteachers, Helen Denton, Lancashire executive director for children and young people, said: “We are very clear that Lancashire schools are not ‘failing’ their pupils. The performance of schools in Lancashire has been described as ‘middle of the road’. This is not the case.