Only a few years ago the Ofsted report on education provided by the former Council administration stated “...efforts are urgently required to tackle underperformance in a relatively large number of schools in the county and to ensure that pupils’ achievement rises to a good standard…”

Just two years into a Conservative run Council, I am delighted to report that our revolution in education is underway. Our Building Schools for the Future programme is bringing our school buildings up to the required standard for 21st century learning and our inclusive approach to teaching and learning has already resulted in an improvement of results.

Northumberland is now ranked in the top 20% nationally for Early Years and Key Stage 1. We are also at the national average for Key Stage 2 performance. Attendance is improving and thanks to our focus on this we are now above the national average. GCSE results are moving towards the national average and the vast majority of our first, primary and middle schools being rated as Outstanding or Good.

Speaking about his department’s success, Councillor Wayne Daley, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services said: “By fundamentally overhauling Northumberland’s education system, we are now in a far better position to provide quality education for our young people. We still have more to do on secondary performance and this will be my main focus for the coming years.

"Too many of these schools are rated as inadequate and not serving the best interests of young people.

"We have a plan to work with them and thanks to the Government listening to our issues, we will benefit from a share of an investment of £24 million into schools in the North East. I would also like to thank local Conservative MPs, Guy Opperman and Anne- Marie Trevelyan for supporting me in tackling the challenges left by years of failure and neglect by Labour.”