Some inner-city schools could be denied funding to train teachers and other staff because their exam scores are not high enough.

Kenny Frederick, head of George Green’s Community School on the Isle of Dogs in east London, expects her school to lose its training school status this year, and with it, about pound;55,000.

Last year, 18 schools lost such funding, which entitles them to up to pound;90,000 annually. Training schools have to be judged at least “good” by Ofsted and see at least 60 per cent of pupils gain five good GCSEs, including English and maths. Schools judged “good” with 35 per cent gaining five good GCSEs including English and maths can also qualify if their contextual value added (CVA) score is in the top 20 per cent in the country.

Ofsted judged Mrs Frederick’s school “good” with many “very good” and “excellent” features, including her leadership. But although George Green’s grades are increasing, they are not high enough to meet the new criteria: its GCSE score was 34 per cent and it had a below-average CVA of 991.8. Most schools designated as training schools before 2005 have been given until April 2010 to bring their results up to scratch.

George Green’s became a training school in 2004, when schools were given the status for their ability to train, not their exam results.

Mrs Frederick said her school had suffered from shortages before it used the graduate teacher programme to expand its teaching staff. More than half are now from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. She said the scheme had helped many local graduates who were jobless because of “racism, foreign-sounding names and having gone to the wrong university”.

Mrs Frederick plans to continue training staff for George Green’s and other schools - but without the training school designation and funding.

Kenny Frederick, page 29.