Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria was used to select schools included in the delivery plan for Opportunity North East.

We selected Ofsted ‘Requires Improvement’ as the criterion to be in scope for the ONE Vision schools programme, with ‘Inadequate’ schools included by exception. We then undertook a comprehensive review of their performance data, pupil demographics, Ofsted history, and drew on intelligence from local authorities and trusts to identify the schools’ relative level of need. Schools with the greatest need were invited to participate in the programme. The ONE Strategic board ratified the final list of 28 schools.

The ambition of the ONE Vision programme, as published in the Opportunity North East delivery plan, is to support these schools to move towards ‘Good’ and to improve the outcomes of young people at the end of the secondary phase.