Rankings

Lowest school ratings in England by area

Q: Which area in England has the lowest school ratings?

Blackpool has the lowest percentage of schools rated Good or Outstanding in the ranking at 58.3%. Telford and Wrekin (68.6%) and Isle of Wight (69.6%) follow.

Q: Why do some areas have lower ratings?

Deprivation is strongly correlated with school ratings, and areas with higher levels of income deprivation tend to sit lower in the ranking. Inspection timing also matters: an authority whose schools are all due for re-inspection may look better or worse than the current reality depending on where the cycle sits.

Q: How can I check a specific school?

Ofsted publishes individual inspection reports for every state-funded school on its own website. This ranking is an area-level summary; the school-specific report is the right source when you are looking at a single school. LiveWhere does not name or rank individual schools.

The English area with the lowest percentage of schools rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted is Blackpool at 58.3%. Even at the bottom of the ranking, the majority of schools in most areas are still rated Good or Outstanding. The average across the 313 ranked areas is 87.4%.

Data last updated: 1 September 2026

Every English local authority ranked by the percentage of schools rated Good or Outstanding at their most recent Ofsted inspection, lowest first. Based on Ofsted's "most recent inspections" release (31 March 2026). Blackpool sits at the bottom at 58.3%, with Telford and Wrekin (68.6%) and Isle of Wight (69.6%) close behind.

England only. Ofsted does not inspect schools in Scotland or Wales, which use their own frameworks (Education Scotland and Estyn). Being at the bottom of this table does not mean the schools are unusable; most areas keep the majority of their schools at Good or Outstanding.

#	Area	Region	Good or Outstanding	Total schools	Avg. rent (£/mo)	Avg. earnings (£/yr)
1	Blackpool	North West	58.3%	43	£696	£27,979
2	Telford and Wrekin	West Midlands	68.6%	77	£850	£31,459
3	Isle of Wight	South East	69.6%	47	£940	£26,740
4	Mendip	England	72.1%	268	N/A	N/A
5	Sedgemoor	England	72.1%	268	N/A	N/A
6	Somerset	South West	72.1%	268	£980	£29,908
7	Somerset West and Taunton	England	72.1%	268	N/A	N/A
8	South Somerset	England	72.1%	268	N/A	N/A
9	Stockport	North West	74.1%	116	£1,091	£33,565
10	Bury	North West	74.4%	84	£965	£31,687
11	North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	75.0%	80	£631	£30,012
12	Rochdale	North West	75.6%	90	£824	£29,535
13	St. Helens	North West	75.9%	70	£774	£31,443
14	Manchester	North West	76.0%	188	£1,347	£30,067
15	Oldham	North West	77.1%	107	£910	£29,124
16	Wirral	North West	77.8%	125	£830	£32,959
17	Rotherham	Yorkshire and The Humber	77.8%	123	£678	£29,664
18	North Tyneside	North East	77.8%	79	£830	£31,106
19	Coventry	West Midlands	78.0%	118	£1,021	£33,063
20	Liverpool	North West	78.4%	171	£893	£30,947
21	Shropshire	West Midlands	78.6%	151	£803	£29,603
22	Dorset	South West	79.1%	158	£1,037	£31,444
23	Cornwall	South West	79.2%	280	£1,004	£28,210
24	Thurrock	East of England	79.2%	56	£1,344	£36,407
25	Tameside	North West	79.5%	98	£917	£29,877
26	Bristol	South West	80.0%	154	£1,888	£34,051
27	East Devon	South West	80.2%	372	£953	£32,154
28	Exeter	South West	80.2%	372	£1,312	£29,531
29	Mid Devon	South West	80.2%	372	£869	£31,908
30	North Devon	South West	80.2%	372	£859	£28,386
31	South Hams	South West	80.2%	372	£996	£29,721
32	Teignbridge	South West	80.2%	372	£944	£28,911
33	Torridge	South West	80.2%	372	£788	£28,752
34	West Devon	South West	80.2%	372	£837	£26,556
35	Herefordshire	West Midlands	80.5%	99	£815	£29,361
36	Eastbourne	South East	80.6%	188	£1,160	£31,199
37	Hastings	South East	80.6%	188	£1,008	£29,323
38	Lewes	South East	80.6%	188	£1,320	£33,088
39	Rother	South East	80.6%	188	£1,162	£30,790
40	Wealden	South East	80.6%	188	£1,259	£33,376
41	Breckland	East of England	80.7%	419	£909	£28,930
42	Broadland	East of England	80.7%	419	£934	£30,920
43	Great Yarmouth	East of England	80.7%	419	£816	£28,808
44	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	East of England	80.7%	419	£930	£30,581
45	North Norfolk	East of England	80.7%	419	£856	£28,421
46	Norwich	East of England	80.7%	419	£1,146	£30,421
47	South Norfolk	East of England	80.7%	419	£969	£32,934
48	Knowsley	North West	80.8%	61	£805	£32,542
49	Salford	North West	81.0%	101	£1,161	£30,495
50	Kirklees	Yorkshire and The Humber	81.8%	182	£759	£30,238
51	Dudley	West Midlands	81.8%	107	£846	£30,822
52	Burnley	North West	82.4%	626	£624	£29,680
53	Chorley	North West	82.4%	626	£773	£33,337
54	Fylde	North West	82.4%	626	£848	£36,020
55	Hyndburn	North West	82.4%	626	£638	£29,647
56	Lancaster	North West	82.4%	626	£802	£29,651
57	Pendle	North West	82.4%	626	£645	£26,742
58	Preston	North West	82.4%	626	£778	£30,038
59	Ribble Valley	North West	82.4%	626	£803	£34,077
60	Rossendale	North West	82.4%	626	£810	£30,487
61	South Ribble	North West	82.4%	626	£787	£32,740
62	West Lancashire	North West	82.4%	626	£794	£31,884
63	Wyre	North West	82.4%	626	£717	£29,814
64	Southampton	South East	82.4%	76	£1,246	£32,907
65	Swindon	South West	82.6%	88	£1,082	£33,135
66	Wiltshire	South West	82.8%	234	£1,056	£31,873
67	Halton	North West	82.9%	66	£732	£29,819
68	Bexley	London	83.3%	84	£1,531	£36,883
69	Wakefield	Yorkshire and The Humber	83.6%	141	£787	£29,954
70	Croydon	London	83.9%	127	£1,560	£38,080
71	Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	84.0%	66	£1,809	£37,653
72	Brighton and Hove	South East	84.0%	64	£1,826	£33,506
73	Leicester	East Midlands	84.3%	113	£1,026	£27,858
74	Cannock Chase	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£841	£30,178
75	East Staffordshire	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£833	£31,517
76	Lichfield	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£1,091	£33,763
77	Newcastle-under-Lyme	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£824	£31,205
78	South Staffordshire	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£942	£31,766
79	Stafford	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£882	£33,872
80	Staffordshire Moorlands	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£718	£31,065
81	Tamworth	West Midlands	84.4%	410	£966	£33,167
82	Adur	South East	84.4%	286	£1,379	£30,217
83	Arun	South East	84.4%	286	£1,217	£29,809
84	Chichester	South East	84.4%	286	£1,319	£28,585
85	Crawley	South East	84.4%	286	£1,475	£34,225
86	Horsham	South East	84.4%	286	£1,444	£36,448
87	Mid Sussex	South East	84.4%	286	£1,405	£37,705
88	Worthing	South East	84.4%	286	£1,310	£32,823
89	County Durham	North East	84.6%	260	£632	£29,718
90	North Warwickshire	West Midlands	84.9%	252	£972	£35,067
91	Nuneaton and Bedworth	West Midlands	84.9%	252	£914	£32,402
92	Rugby	West Midlands	84.9%	252	£1,028	£41,814
93	Stratford-on-Avon	West Midlands	84.9%	252	£1,120	£34,847
94	Warwick	West Midlands	84.9%	252	£1,237	£39,797
95	Blaby	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£977	£31,950
96	Charnwood	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£949	£33,550
97	Harborough	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£960	£34,321
98	Hinckley and Bosworth	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£920	£31,591
99	Melton	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£790	£26,633
100	North West Leicestershire	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£899	£32,252
101	Oadby and Wigston	East Midlands	85.0%	287	£1,020	£28,368
102	Peterborough	East of England	85.0%	82	£976	£29,828
103	Buckinghamshire	South East	85.1%	236	£1,467	£35,937
104	Sefton	North West	85.1%	103	£919	£29,335
105	Boston	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£793	£27,729
106	East Lindsey	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£678	£26,705
107	Lincoln	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£946	£29,824
108	North Kesteven	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£857	£30,585
109	South Holland	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£759	£30,196
110	South Kesteven	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£835	£29,071
111	West Lindsey	East Midlands	85.2%	361	£711	£30,741
112	Lambeth	London	85.4%	86	£2,525	£43,666
113	Amber Valley	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£784	£30,823
114	Bolsover	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£692	£29,674
115	Chesterfield	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£735	£30,621
116	Derbyshire Dales	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£797	£33,700
117	Erewash	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£831	£31,673
118	High Peak	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£900	£32,258
119	North East Derbyshire	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£775	£30,931
120	South Derbyshire	East Midlands	86.2%	419	£871	£35,452
121	Derby	East Midlands	86.3%	107	£847	£30,467
122	Walsall	West Midlands	86.4%	122	£904	£29,112
123	Cheshire East	North West	87.0%	156	£972	£33,221
124	Craven	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
125	Hambleton	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
126	Harrogate	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
127	North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	87.1%	352	£831	£30,683
128	Richmondshire	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
129	Ryedale	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
130	Scarborough	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
131	Selby	England	87.1%	352	N/A	N/A
132	Redcar and Cleveland	North East	87.1%	59	£640	£28,630
133	Cheltenham	South West	87.2%	300	£1,233	£36,014
134	Cotswold	South West	87.2%	300	£1,263	£32,927
135	Forest of Dean	South West	87.2%	300	£820	£36,589
136	Gloucester	South West	87.2%	300	£1,099	£30,455
137	Stroud	South West	87.2%	300	£1,036	£33,495
138	Tewkesbury	South West	87.2%	300	£983	£31,603
139	Ashfield	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£777	£27,797
140	Bassetlaw	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£716	£28,314
141	Broxtowe	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£963	£30,966
142	Gedling	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£891	£30,051
143	Mansfield	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£770	£28,170
144	Newark and Sherwood	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£787	£29,806
145	Rushcliffe	East Midlands	87.3%	344	£1,031	£36,705
146	Cambridge	East of England	87.3%	268	£1,795	£38,711
147	East Cambridgeshire	East of England	87.3%	268	£1,016	£34,311
148	Fenland	East of England	87.3%	268	£830	£30,125
149	Huntingdonshire	East of England	87.3%	268	£1,045	£33,375
150	South Cambridgeshire	East of England	87.3%	268	£1,399	£42,690
151	Hartlepool	North East	87.5%	39	£570	£28,830
152	Nottingham	East Midlands	87.8%	106	£1,008	£26,512
153	Birmingham	West Midlands	87.9%	443	£1,086	£30,180
154	Luton	East of England	87.9%	70	£1,211	£28,741
155	Babergh	East of England	88.0%	321	£969	£30,118
156	East Suffolk	East of England	88.0%	321	£831	£30,261
157	Ipswich	East of England	88.0%	321	£985	£30,928
158	Mid Suffolk	East of England	88.0%	321	£973	£31,507
159	West Suffolk	East of England	88.0%	321	£1,176	£33,437
160	Basingstoke and Deane	South East	88.1%	530	£1,324	£39,279
161	East Hampshire	South East	88.1%	530	£1,252	£39,682
162	Eastleigh	South East	88.1%	530	£1,205	£34,474
163	Fareham	South East	88.1%	530	£1,206	£38,851
164	Gosport	South East	88.1%	530	£1,150	£34,256
165	Hart	South East	88.1%	530	£1,406	£39,341
166	Havant	South East	88.1%	530	£1,127	£30,819
167	New Forest	South East	88.1%	530	£1,234	£31,344
168	Rushmoor	South East	88.1%	530	£1,369	£33,734
169	Test Valley	South East	88.1%	530	£1,203	£35,314
170	Winchester	South East	88.1%	530	£1,498	£38,352
171	Central Bedfordshire	East of England	88.1%	129	£1,238	£36,622
172	Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	88.1%	93	£708	£29,041
173	Cheshire West and Chester	North West	88.3%	160	£959	£32,391
174	Basildon	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,396	£34,133
175	Braintree	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,227	£34,546
176	Brentwood	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,605	£39,864
177	Castle Point	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,231	£35,975
178	Chelmsford	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,442	£35,791
179	Colchester	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,216	£31,589
180	Epping Forest	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,826	£38,171
181	Harlow	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,513	£30,654
182	Maldon	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,151	£32,599
183	Rochford	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,285	£38,107
184	Tendring	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,048	£29,545
185	Uttlesford	East of England	88.6%	557	£1,285	£41,006
186	Trafford	North West	88.6%	91	£1,358	£35,593
187	Solihull	West Midlands	88.6%	83	£1,258	£36,672
188	Allerdale	England	88.9%	172	N/A	N/A
189	Carlisle	England	88.9%	172	N/A	N/A
190	Copeland	England	88.9%	172	N/A	N/A
191	Cumberland	North West	88.9%	172	£659	£33,840
192	East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	88.9%	149	£709	£31,881
193	Sandwell	West Midlands	89.1%	124	£938	£27,652
194	Cherwell	South East	89.3%	309	£1,289	£36,568
195	Oxford	South East	89.3%	309	£1,952	£36,517
196	South Oxfordshire	South East	89.3%	309	£1,377	£43,026
197	Vale of White Horse	South East	89.3%	309	£1,332	£38,859
198	West Oxfordshire	South East	89.3%	309	£1,270	£35,388
199	South Gloucestershire	South West	89.3%	116	£1,445	£35,002
200	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	89.3%	52	£1,278	£33,594
201	Broxbourne	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,649	£37,283
202	Dacorum	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,577	£36,473
203	East Hertfordshire	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,504	£44,154
204	Hertsmere	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,787	£36,159
205	North Hertfordshire	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,408	£42,703
206	St Albans	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,912	£45,543
207	Stevenage	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,417	£35,747
208	Three Rivers	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,807	£39,615
209	Watford	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,813	£37,172
210	Welwyn Hatfield	East of England	89.4%	532	£1,468	£37,805
211	Bradford	Yorkshire and The Humber	89.5%	209	£737	£28,424
212	Sheffield	Yorkshire and The Humber	89.7%	178	£920	£31,816
213	North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	89.7%	144	£978	£32,882
214	Wolverhampton	West Midlands	90.0%	111	£928	£31,308
215	Hull	Yorkshire and The Humber	90.0%	96	£684	£27,309
216	Ashford	South East	90.2%	597	£1,239	£32,991
217	Canterbury	South East	90.2%	597	£1,260	£30,188
218	Dartford	South East	90.2%	597	£1,556	£36,210
219	Dover	South East	90.2%	597	£962	£33,704
220	Folkestone and Hythe	South East	90.2%	597	£1,132	£33,355
221	Gravesham	South East	90.2%	597	£1,319	£35,065
222	Maidstone	South East	90.2%	597	£1,282	£34,151
223	Sevenoaks	South East	90.2%	597	£1,781	£34,969
224	Swale	South East	90.2%	597	£1,104	£33,647
225	Thanet	South East	90.2%	597	£1,107	£28,323
226	Tonbridge and Malling	South East	90.2%	597	£1,467	£35,106
227	Tunbridge Wells	South East	90.2%	597	£1,501	£35,319
228	Bromsgrove	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£977	£36,409
229	Malvern Hills	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£938	£28,167
230	Redditch	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£898	£29,113
231	Worcester	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£955	£32,997
232	Wychavon	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£925	£29,661
233	Wyre Forest	West Midlands	90.4%	243	£849	£29,408
234	Northumberland	North East	90.4%	168	£664	£30,456
235	Barrow-in-Furness	England	90.7%	147	N/A	N/A
236	Eden	England	90.7%	147	N/A	N/A
237	South Lakeland	England	90.7%	147	N/A	N/A
238	Westmorland and Furness	North West	90.7%	147	£797	£33,988
239	Portsmouth	South East	90.9%	61	£1,357	£30,962
240	Torbay	South West	90.9%	43	£899	£28,963
241	Darlington	North East	90.9%	42	£666	£30,100
242	Kensington and Chelsea	London	90.9%	39	£3,599	£46,690
243	Newcastle upon Tyne	North East	91.2%	100	£1,206	£30,144
244	West Berkshire	South East	91.3%	83	£1,273	£38,513
245	Leeds	Yorkshire and The Humber	91.5%	279	£1,130	£31,679
246	Wokingham	South East	91.7%	72	£1,479	£43,538
247	Waltham Forest	London	92.0%	78	£1,753	£37,971
248	Hillingdon	London	92.1%	99	£1,549	£36,429
249	Plymouth	South West	92.2%	98	£985	£28,992
250	Bolton	North West	92.3%	129	£878	£29,409
251	Ealing	London	92.3%	94	£2,051	£35,665
252	Bedford	East of England	92.3%	76	£1,163	£35,987
253	North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	92.3%	65	£614	£28,898
254	South Tyneside	North East	92.3%	62	£720	£28,784
255	Reading	South East	92.3%	61	£1,579	£35,454
256	Elmbridge	South East	92.5%	399	£1,832	£42,607
257	Epsom and Ewell	South East	92.5%	399	£1,682	£43,006
258	Guildford	South East	92.5%	399	£1,698	£39,985
259	Mole Valley	South East	92.5%	399	£1,545	£35,341
260	Reigate and Banstead	South East	92.5%	399	£1,628	£40,014
261	Runnymede	South East	92.5%	399	£1,567	£42,203
262	Spelthorne	South East	92.5%	399	£1,633	£37,918
263	Surrey Heath	South East	92.5%	399	£1,493	£37,793
264	Tandridge	South East	92.5%	399	£1,596	£33,316
265	Waverley	South East	92.5%	399	£1,431	£42,326
266	Woking	South East	92.5%	399	£1,615	£38,172
267	Medway	South East	92.5%	103	£1,241	£33,857
268	Greenwich	London	92.5%	88	£1,944	£39,984
269	West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	92.6%	188	£1,070	£33,059
270	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	92.7%	100	£1,397	£31,848
271	Brent	London	92.9%	89	£1,969	£34,871
272	North Somerset	South West	92.9%	80	£1,194	£32,996
273	Blackburn with Darwen	North West	92.9%	77	£707	£27,502
274	Stockton-on-Tees	North East	93.3%	78	£732	£29,877
275	York	Yorkshire and The Humber	93.8%	63	£1,173	£32,961
276	Barnsley	Yorkshire and The Humber	93.9%	91	£670	£31,359
277	Redbridge	London	94.3%	79	£1,720	£37,190
278	Calderdale	Yorkshire and The Humber	94.4%	100	£741	£31,708
279	Slough	South East	94.4%	51	£1,567	£35,521
280	Tower Hamlets	London	94.9%	92	£2,396	£45,183
281	Wandsworth	London	95.0%	81	£2,593	£49,310
282	Bath and North East Somerset	South West	95.1%	80	£1,876	£32,481
283	Barking and Dagenham	London	95.2%	62	£1,687	£32,911
284	Milton Keynes	South East	95.3%	113	£1,329	£36,061
285	Doncaster	Yorkshire and The Humber	95.5%	128	£684	£31,119
286	Sunderland	North East	95.7%	116	£695	£27,989
287	Middlesbrough	North East	95.8%	57	£709	£30,253
288	Islington	London	96.0%	63	£2,763	£47,411
289	Wigan	North West	96.2%	127	£732	£31,615
290	Sutton	London	96.4%	64	£1,545	£38,359
291	Barnet	London	96.6%	132	£1,928	£39,239
292	Harrow	London	96.6%	60	£1,754	£36,000
293	Havering	London	96.7%	82	£1,566	£40,726
294	Gateshead	North East	96.9%	84	£785	£29,494
295	Lewisham	London	97.1%	86	£1,810	£39,505
296	Haringey	London	97.2%	82	£2,209	£37,563
297	Bromley	London	97.6%	100	£1,670	£43,981
298	Southwark	London	97.9%	101	£2,388	£43,006
299	Newham	London	100.0%	102	£1,912	£36,080
300	Enfield	London	100.0%	97	£1,770	£34,962
301	Warrington	North West	100.0%	88	£880	£34,144
302	Hounslow	London	100.0%	76	£1,907	£35,301
303	Hackney	London	100.0%	73	£2,598	£40,237
304	Richmond upon Thames	London	100.0%	60	£2,302	£46,594
305	Hammersmith and Fulham	London	100.0%	59	£2,724	£42,811
306	Camden	London	100.0%	57	£2,654	£44,088
307	Merton	London	100.0%	56	£2,083	£43,507
308	Kingston upon Thames	London	100.0%	52	£1,796	£41,833
309	Westminster	London	100.0%	52	£3,122	£45,172
310	Bracknell Forest	South East	100.0%	38	£1,501	£36,067
311	Rutland	East Midlands	100.0%	20	£968	£39,559
312	City of London	London	100.0%	1	N/A	N/A
313	Isles of Scilly	South West	100.0%	1	N/A	N/A

Which areas have the lowest-rated schools?

Blackpool sits at the bottom at 58.3% of schools rated Good or Outstanding, followed by Telford and Wrekin (68.6%) and Isle of Wight (69.6%). Even at the bottom of the table, more than half of schools are still rated Good or Outstanding in almost every area.

A cluster of shire-district rows sits in the low 70s because they inherit Somerset County Council's figure (the 2023 unitary and its former districts all share the same underlying data). The remaining bottom-ten authorities are a mix of northern metropolitan districts and a couple of southern unitaries, without a single dominant regional pattern.

Context matters when reading these numbers. An area at 72% Good or Outstanding still has roughly seven in ten schools in the top two Ofsted tiers; being ranked "worst" here is not the same as being poorly served.

Why do some areas have lower school ratings?

Ofsted has consistently found a correlation between income deprivation and school ratings. Areas with a higher share of pupils from the most deprived neighbourhoods tend to sit lower in the ranking, though the correlation is far from perfect and several deprived authorities have very strong Ofsted numbers.

Inspection timing is the other factor. An authority whose schools are largely due for re-inspection may look better or worse than the current reality depending on how the cycle has landed. The renewed framework (November 2025 onwards) is being phased in gradually, so most schools in the ranking still carry a grade from an inspection several years old.

Are areas with lower school ratings less safe?

Less than you might assume. Averaging recorded crime across the 20 lowest-rated authorities and the 20 highest-rated ones surfaces figures of roughly 884 crimes per 10,000 people at the bottom of the schools table and 1,249 at the top. The top-rated cluster actually posts a slightly higher average, because London boroughs dominate the top of the schools ranking and London carries above-average recorded crime rates thanks to its dense city-centre economies.

School ratings and crime rates measure very different things and the relationship at authority level is weaker than the popular assumption suggests. If safety is the primary lens for a move, the safest places to live ranking is the right starting point; if schools are the primary lens, this table (or the best school ratings flipside) is more informative than cross-referencing the two.

Are school ratings improving?

Nationally the picture has been broadly stable for several years, with around 87% of schools rated Good or Outstanding across most recent snapshots. Individual authorities can move up or down noticeably between snapshots, particularly if a small number of secondaries are re-graded, but the national headline moves slowly.

The November 2025 framework change makes year-on-year comparisons harder from here on. As more schools are re-inspected under the renewed framework there will be no single "overall effectiveness" grade to compare against the old percentages. This ranking will continue using the original grade where available and will be updated with a separate view of the renewed-framework outcomes once enough schools have been assessed under it.

What to consider when looking at school data

Area-level ratings are a snapshot, not the whole picture. A school rated Requires Improvement three years ago may have improved substantially since; a school rated Outstanding a decade ago may not be the same institution today. Individual school choice matters much more than area averages for any given family.

Ofsted publishes an individual report for every state-funded school on its own website. That report is the right source when you are looking at a specific school. LiveWhere does not name or rank individual schools; we aggregate to area level to give context on how the local picture compares.

If you want the top of this ranking, see the best school ratings by area. Each area profile shows the full Ofsted breakdown alongside cost of living, crime and broadband coverage.

Data and methodology

All figures come from Ofsted's "State-funded schools inspections and outcomes as at 31 March 2026" release. The Good or Outstanding percentage is calculated from schools whose most recent full inspection was under the original framework. Schools inspected only under the renewed framework (from November 2025) are counted in the total but excluded from the percentage. Districts in shire counties inherit the county council's figure because Ofsted publishes at the education-authority level. The ranking covers 313 English areas; Wales (Estyn) and Scotland (Education Scotland) are not included.

Key findings

Blackpool has the lowest Good/Outstanding percentage at 58.3% of schools.
Telford and Wrekin and Isle of Wight follow at 68.6% and 69.6%.
Even the bottom-ranked area keeps more than half of its schools at Good or Outstanding.
The average across the 313 ranked areas is 87.4%.

Methodology

Coverage: Ofsted, most recent inspection outcomes for state-funded schools as at 31 March 2026. Areas are ranked by the percentage of schools rated Good or Outstanding, lowest first. The percentage is calculated from schools whose most recent inspection was under the original framework; schools inspected only under the renewed framework (November 2025 onwards) are excluded from the percentage but counted in each area's total. Ofsted publishes at the local-education-authority level; shire-county districts inherit their county's figure. Scotland (Education Scotland) and Wales (Estyn) use different frameworks and are not included.

Read more about our data sources and approach on the About page.

Frequently asked questions about school ratings

Which area in England has the lowest school ratings?

Does a lower ranking mean the schools are bad?

Not on its own. A low Good/Outstanding percentage means fewer schools reached those grades at their most recent inspection, but a school rated Requires Improvement may have made significant progress since. Ofsted reports also cover primary, secondary, special and alternative provision together, so an area with a high number of alternative provision units may look weaker than a mainstream-only average would suggest.

Why do some areas have lower ratings?

How can I check a specific school?

Use this research

Journalists, researchers and bloggers are welcome to cite and share this analysis. Please include a follow link back to this page when referencing our data. For bespoke analysis, expert comment, or high-resolution graphics, get in touch via our press office.

Data on this page is sourced from: ONS Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR), Scottish Government Private Sector Rent Statistics, ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ONS / HM Land Registry House Price Statistics, and MHCLG / Scottish Government / Welsh Government council tax data. All data is published under the Open Government Licence.