A school in Ipswich which was rated as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted two years ago has failed to improve to the ‘good’ rating in its latest inspection.

Westbourne Academy in Marlow Road was inspected last month, with the findings published online earlier today.

And despite recognising that improvements had been made, the inspection team deemed the school to still be requiring improvement in all areas.

The report said that in 2016, the pupils’ progress was “significantly below the national average,” and added that “although improving, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is not yet consistently good across the curriculum”.

This year’s GCSE results featured a 54% success rate for A*-C grades in maths and English – a significant improvement on the 42% in 2015, but inspectors said the pupils were not making enough progress in English and science.

Ofsted did, however, praise the behaviour of the school’s children, and recognised that principal Garry Trott had “led the school diligently and has driven improvements in the ethos and culture of the school”.

Mr Trott said: “We are pleased that the inspection team have acknowledged a range of positive developments that have taken place at the academy.

“We know that there is still more to do and we are determined that our relentless focus on improvement will continue.”

The school, previously known as Westbourne Sports College, converted to an academy in 2013, and in December 2014 received its first inspection as an academy where it was judged to require improvement in all areas.

An interim visit by inspectors in March 2015 assessed the school to be taking effective action in a number of areas, but highlighted further improvements were needed in staff skills and homework.

The school’s sponsor, the Academy Transformation Trust, said that the school was not far off the ‘good’ rating.

Chief executive Ian Cleland added: “Westbourne Academy, under the leadership of Garry Trott, has made significant improvements since the last inspection.

“The academy already fulfils several of the criteria for the category of ‘good’ under Ofsted.”