TWO of Burnley’s multi-million pound superschools are failing, according to draft reports by inspectors.

Blessed Trinity RC College and Hameldon Community College are each providing inadequate levels of education to students, education watchdog Ofsted has provisionally found.

The news is another blow to Burnley’s £250million Building Schools for the Future scheme which has been dogged by a series of problems.

However, there was one positive as it is understood that Sir John Thursby Community College, which was also inspected last week, was found to have maintained its satisfactory progress.

Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle said he was surprised by the plight of Blessed Trinity and Hameldon and warned that ‘brilliant new buildings’ could not change the ‘teaching and education’.

Other critics also spoke of their disappointment and pointed to continuing ‘teething problems’, stressing Burnley’s future was still bright.

Both schools opened five years ago, eventually moving into state-of-the-art buildings last September.

Hameldon was in special measures, Ofsted’s category for failing schools, for more than two years until June 2009. Shuttleworth Community College has also been in special measures for a period after its launch while Unity College was given a notice to improve in 2007.

Earlier this year it was revealed Burnley had come bottom in a government performance table of local authorities for GCSE results based on the 2009 exams.

Now further problems have hit the superschools after Ofsted inspections.

Blessed Trinity is set to be placed in special measures, while Hameldon is expected to be given a notice to improve, one step above special measures which classes schools as inadequate and not performing as well as they should.

The draft conclusions have been presented to the schools for bosses to comment and, if desired, contest the findings.

Final reports are expected to be released in the next three weeks.

The headteachers and Lancashire County Council, the education body which runs the schools, said they could not comment until the final report was out.

Mr Birtwistle said he was particularly surprised by Blessed Trinity’s problems which he said had been born out of two of Burnley’s finest schools.

He said: “It is an extremely high quality school with a good headteacher.

“I am disappointed. Hameldon has always been improving. It is doing a lot better than it was before. I am surprised.

“BSF changed the buildings but they don’t make the education. It gave us brilliant new buildings but that doesn’t change teaching and the education.”

National executive and Lancashire representative for the NASUWT, John Girdley said he sympathised with the schools as some mistakes were made with BSF.

He said: “They had not thought about the aftermath of mixing together the community that went into the schools. The reality is that it is much more difficult than they thought.”

Jennifer Mein, leader of the opposition at Lancashire County Council, said she was disappointed by the draft findings.

She said: “We all know bricks and mortar aren’t the whole story. But they are a catalyst to improve students and make them feel valued and increase self esteem and increase their desire to do well.

“I am certain if the schools asked for support from Lancashire they would get it.”

Coun Julie Cooper, leader of the Labour party on Burnley Council, said it was bad news, but added: “I can’t help but feel the new schools are still having some teething problems coming to terms with their new identities.

“The staff are working together and the local authority will continue to support them and help take them forward.

“Not all the schools are suffering, some of them are doing very well and they should be recognised, but I want to see good results across Burnley and I am sure we will get there in the end and the sooner the better.

“The new buildings were desperately needed. It is not an argument to say the new schools shouldn’t have been built.

“Critics will say it is the buildings causing these problems but improving buildings can never have a bad effect on education. Other things have to be in place as well.”