Liverpool is to adopt the widely lauded London Challenge programme in a bid to raise educational attainment in its schools.

The London Challenge has been strongly linked with the major improvements being made in schools in the capital, and a version of the initiative will be launched in the port city later this week.

Stephen Twigg, MP for Liverpool West Derby and a former schools minister who helped to lead the London Challenge under the Labour government, will act as chair of the Liverpool Challenge.

The drive will run for the next four years as the city attempts to boost the educational outcomes of its young people, particularly in subjects such as maths.

The announcement comes in the same week that Ofsted’s chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, warned that standards in the North, including Liverpool, were not good enough. Just 48 per cent of teenagers achieved five good GCSEs including English and maths, Sir Michael said.

Mr Twigg said he was “confident” that his experience working on the London Challenge programme would “help drive improvements here”.

“As a local MP, I know about the amazing work that goes on in our schools and the difference that the teaching and support staff make to the lives of pupils,” he said.

“This is about building on our success and spreading it further and wider throughout the education system in Liverpool, working in partnership with universities and employers.”

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