A SECONDARY school has been placed in special measures after 'failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education'.

Ofsted bosses rated Marsden Heights Community College in Nelson as 'inadequate' following an inspection at the beginning of December.

In a damning report, inspectors said the overall effectiveness of the Edge End Lane school has 'declined considerably' since it was last inspected in 2012 when it was rated 'good'.

The school was rated 'inadequate' for effectiveness of leadership, quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils, and 'requires improvement' for personal development, behaviour and welfare.

Pendle MP Andrew Stephenson said the report was a 'damning indictment' and warned the school could be forced to become an academy.

At the time of the inspection the school was run by headteacher Ian Adlington.

Inspectors said boys and disadvantaged pupils have 'significantly underachieved for some time' while leaders and governors do not ensure the pupil premium funding, additional money for disadvantaged pupils, is used effectively.

Parents also raised concerns about achievement and the amount of students resitting exams.

Helen O'Neill, lead inspector, said the leaders and governing body have overseen years of low achievement and have allowed a large proportion of pupils to leave the school having made inadequate progress.

She said: "In 2016, the overall progress made by pupils from their starting points was below the national average. The school’s information about current pupils shows that they, too, are unlikely to make enough progress.

"Low expectations of pupils permeate the school and targets are not aspirational enough for the majority of pupils."

The school, which has 902 pupils on the role has a higher than average proportion of disadvantaged students and was praised for effective safeguarding, for reducing the number of pupils excluded for poor behaviour, strong cultural cohesion throughout the school and for the strong relationships between staff and leaders.

Long term-staff absences and difficulty in recruiting teachers meant some students' progress had been limited, inspectors said.

The school's new headteacher Alyson Littlewood, who started weeks after the inspection, said action is already being taken to address the issues.

She said: "As the inspectors recognised, the college has been through a period of transition, including my appointment as its new headteacher.

"We are working hard to make sure that staffing is consistent.

"We are already working with the county council's advisers to develop a long-term improvement action plan with clear timescales.

"A tangible sign of the progress we've already made is that the recently released progress 8 government measures put us in the top 40 per cent of Lancashire schools.

"We are determined to build on this."

She added they have introduced a new initiative to develop the setting of homework.

Mr Stephenson said: "I am deeply concerned and will be seeing what I can do to support the school."

Matthew Tomlinson, Lancashire County Council's education boss, said the council has a good track record of working with schools that find themselves in this kind of situation.

"I am aware there is a new headteacher who is working really hard to address the issues that Ofsted has raised and we will be providing them with as much support as we can," he said.