The south Leeds comprehensive may be closed down if it fails to raise its performance further. It is three percentage points below the all-important five-A*-to-C milestone of 15 per cent.

While headteacher Colin Richardson is confident his school will vault over the 15 per cent bar in 2002, his belief in the target’s validity is less strong. He said: “We’re faced with the stigma that we are bad professionals because of our results.”

Cockburn pupils are predominantly drawn from inner-city council estates, with more than a third on free school meals and almost 10 per cent having English as a second language.

The school faced its biggest challenge two years ago when neighbouring Middleton Park high school, which had achieved notoriety for failing to get a single pupil five good GCSEs, was closed. Most Middleton Park pupils transferred to Cockburn.

As pupil numbers doubled, the school was forced to operate across both sites for a year. The key GCSE indicator nose-dived from 19 to 9 per cent.

Deputy head Janet Jackson said a number of initiatives were in place to boost results but they would take time.

She said: “We are targeting 62 middle-of-the-road pupils with a very strict mentoring and revision programme, to push them into the A*-to-C range.”

The school management take solace from a recent inspectors’ report following a two-day visit in February.

Inspectors said: “Staff, together with a significant proportion of pupils, co-operate to create an ethos in which learning, achievement and socially acceptable behaviour are recognised, valued and rewarded appropriately.”

But this week pupils and staff all agreed that the league tables had come like a kick in the teeth.

Mithran Samuel