The number of secondary schools in Newham to be rated good or outstanding by Ofsted has decreased in the past year.

Figures revealed as part of Ofsted’s annual report found that 79 per cent of the borough’s secondary schools had one of the top two gradings as of August - a decline of nine percentage points on the same time last year.

It is the fourth biggest drop across London and puts Newham as having the fifth lowest proportion of top-rated schools.

Across the capital, 89pc of secondary schools boast a good or outstanding rating.

And while the number of Newham primary schools with the ratings are below the London average - 92pc compared to a capital-wide 94pc - there have been improvements in the past year, with 2pc more schools making the grade.

The report also found that 67pc of primary children were reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths in Key Stage 2 - above the London average of 66pc.

But the progress of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 was fractionally below that of their peers, with the average A8 score - attainment in eight GCSE subjects - being 48.0 compared to the capital-wide 48.6.

Mike Sheridan, Ofsted’s regional director for London, said: “For most young people, London is a great place to grow up.

“We have some of the best schools, colleges, social care and early years provision to be found.”

But he added: “There remains too much variation in performance between the London boroughs.

“We want to see all children in London receiving high quality education and care – regardless of the area they live in.”

A Newham Council spokeswoman said: “This one statistic regarding Ofsted is not a true indication of how the borough’s secondary schools are performing.

“In the last 12 months, only one secondary school has dropped an Ofsted grade in an inspection and we are working closely with the school to improve its performance.

“The majority of our secondary schools have either maintained or improved their good or outstanding Ofsted judgements.”

She added: “We are proud of all our schools and the staff who work hard to support Newham’s young people to meet their aspirations and ambitions and ensure they have the same opportunities as young people in wealthier boroughs.”