More than three-quarters of secondary school pupils in Barnsley are in schools rated 'inadequate' or 'requiring improvement', according to the latest report by Ofsted.

Barnsley comes second from bottom in England with 22 per cent of pupils in secondary schools rated 'good' or 'better' by education watchdog Ofsted.

The rest, 78 per cent, are in schools rated as inadequate, or requiring improvement. Only the Isle of Wight scored worse.

The figures were better for primary schools however, where 77 per cent of Barnsley's youngsters are in schools rated 'good' or better.

The report was published this week but Barnsley Council says the information is already out of date, and that improvements were already being made.

A spokesman said: "Since this data was produced, Ofsted has judged another of our secondary schools to be good

overall.

"This reinforces the improvements seen in Barnsley in GCSE results in 2013 that were at a faster rate than that seen nationally, and regionally in the proportion of students attaining five good GCSE passes including English and mathematics."

The spokesman said there was a 'shared understanding' between the council and schools of the challenges in tackling under performance, and a 'total commitment' to improvement.

He said: "Current strong leadership by head teachers in Barnsley secondary schools, working in partnership with the local authority, is bringing about change and improvement."