Keir Starmer today promises a "zero-tolerance attitude toward low expectations" as he challenged hundreds of schools to improve. The Prime Minister said 300,000 children currently attend schools in England that are "stuck" - with an alarming gap opening between London and the rest of the country. It comes as a long-awaited shakeup of watchdog Ofsted is unveiled, with new report cards replacing one-word verdicts.

But the Government faces a backlash from teaching unions who have voiced alarm about the plans. And the sister of tragic headteacher Ruth Perry - who took her own life after an Ofsted inspection - said the new system would still be "dangerous" for school staff. Writing for The Mirror, Mr Starmer said one-word verdicts on how a school is performing "is part of why stuck schools fall between the cracks". Today Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson will announce a new five-point grading system for schools across a number of different areas.

Mr Starmer said: "Right now there are more than 600 schools in England that are 'stuck'. Not bad enough for inspectors at Ofsted to intervene. But not raising standards for their children. Scroll down to see the Prime Minister's words in full. "Three hundred thousand kids go to these schools. And many are in the poorest regions of our country." He added: "Ignoring them would be the textbook definition of low expectations – and I won’t stand for it.".

And criticising one-word Ofsted verdicts, he said: "Nobody would buy a car or holiday with just a one-word recommendation. So why do we expect parents to do the same for their children’s school? This is part of why stuck schools fall between the cracks.". The Government will announce a new Ofsted 'report card' system to evaluate success. But Professor Julia Walters, whose sister Mrs Perry died in January 2023, claims lessons have not been learned from the tragedy.

Mrs Perry took her own life after discovering Caversham Primary School in Reading was set to be downgraded to 'inadequate' by Ofsted. Prof Walters warned the planned new grading system "retains many of the dangerous features of the previous system, while introducing a series of changes with potential new risks to the wellbeing of teachers and headteachers". She said: "Ofsted says it has listened, but it still does not appear to have adequately learned. I am worried that this proposal is a rehash of the discredited and dangerous system it is meant to replace.".

Under the Government's proposals, at least eight areas will be evaluated and graded in a report card for parents. These areas will include leadership and governance, curriculum, developing teaching, achievement, behaviour and attitudes, attendance, personal development and wellbeing, and inclusion. In a key speech Ms Phillipson will say: “Never will we go back to the dark days of weak accountability. Because it was the children from disadvantaged backgrounds who suffered the most.

"So today I am taking us into a new era on school standards. Our searchlight on poor performance must now become brighter, to see the problems of today and tomorrow quickly and clearly.". Teaching unions have voiced concerns about the plans. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders' union NAHT, said they "suggest an inspectorate determined to hold on to a model of inspection that is long past its sell-by date".

And Pepe Di'Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said the proposed school report cards "appear to be even worse than the single-word judgments they replace". Ofsted chief Sir Martyn Oliver said "beauty" of a report card - which he claimed is "a bit like a child's school report card" - is "fairer" and "more proportionate" than the previous system. He said: "It highlights all the things that schools excel at as well as those where they could improve.

"And our report card will give a far better balanced, more realistic and a fairer picture of all of a school's strengths and areas for improvement.". London wasn’t always the by-word for prosperity it is now. When I first moved here in the late 1980s it could be an intimidating place. Crime was rife. Train stations were to be avoided at night. Schools were places you worried about sending your children.

Don’t get me wrong – the city still has its problems. My Camden constituency contains some of the toughest inner-city estates in Britain. But what most parents in London can bank upon now is an excellent state education. This has been long journey. It began back in those same 1980s, when Tory education secretary Ken Baker brought in a much-needed national curriculum. But the big transformation came in the New Labour years.