The new statistics also show that more primary schools run by local councils were considered to be “good” or “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors than academies.

Overall, as of the end of August, 89 per cent of schools in England were judged to be at least “good” at their latest inspection - up five percentage points compared to the same month in 2015.

The statistics also show that 91 per cent of primary schools run by local authorities were rated as “good” or better at their last inspection, compared with 86 per cent of primary academies.

The findings come amid a continued push by the government for schools to take on academy status. Around 80 per cent of primaries are currently under local council control.

Secondary schools continue to lag further behind primaries in their ratings.

Ofsted and teacher recruitment

A breakdown shows that 90 per cent of primaries were deemed “good” or “outstanding”, up six points on the year before, while the proportion of secondaries given one of these two ratings by inspectors has risen by four points over the same period to 78 per cent.

Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “These outcomes are particularly impressive given that there is a crisis in teacher recruitment and retention, and severe funding pressures. 

“We once again call on the government to urgently address these issues in order to ensure that schools have the resources they need to be able to continue to raise standards.”

School standards minister Nick Gibb said: “Thanks to changes made by this government, there are now almost 1.8 million more pupils in ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ schools than in August 2010 - including almost 420,000 additional ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school places in the last year.”

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