Much-improved school loses fight to stay open

A primary school in Britain's first fully privately run education authority has lost its battle against closure despite winning a government award for outstanding improvements.

An independent adjudicator appointed by the Government has ruled that the 200-pupil Angel school in Islington, north London, must close at the end of the next academic year.

The adjudicator, Andrew Collier, said he "noted the good progress made by the school and the support it had deservedly won from parents and pupils". But he felt it should close because of a surplus of school places in the borough.

The school was among the most improved in the country last year. The number of pupils reaching the required standard for an 11-year-old in maths had risen from 13 per cent to 59 per cent in four years. In English, it had doubled to 50 percent. It was given a £5,000 reward by Estelle Morris, then minister for School Standards.

Parents were angry at the decision – especially at the adjudicator's suggestion that a nearby school could expand to cater for the Angel's pupils. They said the school should not close if it meant another had to be expanded.