A SECONDARY school is on its way out of special measures after "significant improvements", an Ofsted inspector says.

A monitoring inspection at Marlwood School in Alveston last month, the fourth since the school was placed in special measures in 2017, suggests improvements have been made.

The report, published by Ofsted inspector Andrew Lovett, stated: “Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures.”

It also remarked that there had been ‘significant improvements in virtually all areas of the school’ since the last report was published in December 2018.

Headteacher Del Planter, who joined the school at the start of this academic year, was praised throughout the report.

He said: “Ofsted has recognised the significant progress that Marlwood School is making in a wide range of areas despite the very challenging financial and organisational constraints that the school faces.

“Whilst the vision for Marlwood School is much greater than the removal of special measures, we acknowledge that this will be a significant step on the way.”

The battles previous headteacher James Pope had to improve the school in the wake of financial difficulties were broadcast in the BBC documentary School.

The programme exposed a problem with attendance but the report notes that an improvement is continuing.

However, improvement is still required in some areas. The report identified that expectations remain too low in a few subjects, with mathematics a particular cause for concern where the work is not challenging enough.

On the whole however, the quality of teaching was said to have risen since the last report.