Teacher shortages and truancy and bad behaviour by pupils still plague many of the tougher schools.

But there is good news as well. More pupils than ever are benefiting from improvements in school standards. Teaching has improved as well as the quality of leadership in the schools.

But is satisfactory good enough? Can you see the improvements? Tell us your views.

Thank you for your e-mails. This debate is now closed. A selection of your comments is published below.

I'm finding being a teacher is becoming more and more like being a parent, social worker and police officer! Carrie, UK

I teach and mostly love what I do. However, I'm finding being a teacher is becoming more and more like being a parent, social worker and police officer! As well as teaching our subjects, we often have to try and make up for several years of a lack of a caring parent/child relationship and then get blamed by parents when their offspring behave like thugs!
Carrie, UK

There are comparatively few bad teachers and even fewer bad heads. Instead of filling in report after report and bid after bid we should remember the simple fact that we employ teachers to teach and heads to manage schools. I am on an LEA select committee, we have to scrutinise 38 reports each year for the government. Some reports cost more to prepare in a small LEA than we spend on the service. In total these reports cost enough to run whole schools and fewer have any value.
Jeremy Blatchford, UK

Schools used to teach pupils to think David Priddy, UK

The more that Governments fiddle with the system the worse it will get. By continually changing the targets and trying to make everything management by numbers they are creating a generation of children capable only of spouting facts verbatim so they can pass exams. Schools used to teach pupils to think, now they teach them to pass exams purely so the Government can measure the figures. And all the time it helps perpetuate the 'cool to be dumb' attitude that seems so prevalent, particularly in the entertainment media. All the exam passes in the world don't matter if the child doesn't have the ability to think for themselves once they leave school.
David Priddy, UK

In my job I see so many families who think education is unimportant, therefore it doesn't matter if their kids bunk off, don't work, cause trouble, etc. And they simply laugh at letters from the school about all these. It's true not every family can provide their children with private tuition or computers or whatever, but providing encouragement and discipline doesn't cost money!
Alison Phillips, UK

School inspectors are just critics Kevin, England

It wasn't so long ago that school inspectors were frowning upon traditional craft subjects and were all for the "let's design a nuclear power station and build a model out of sugar boxes" approach. Anyone who disagreed with this nonsense was treated like a fool. Now craft is back in fashion. It doesn't take a genius to judge if a lesson is good or even if a whole school is providing a good education. School inspectors are just critics. They have their place but let's not kid ourselves that they have some special insight into how we improve our schools. You wouldn't ask theatre critics to give acting lessons but you would take account of their views on the quality of a play.
Kevin, England

Our state schools will never be good enough until we can convincingly believe that all children are receiving equal, high quality opportunities to realise their potential wherever they live and from whatever stratum of society they come.
That seems obvious. However, in England in particular there are persistent public attitudes that permit serious dilution of such aims. One such is the belief that the purpose of education is to provide advantage, rather than to educate. Another is the familiar "sheep and goats" syndrome that supports a widespread attitude that only a small proportion of our population is educable.

It is quite reasonable to examine schools and teachers who are responsible for a very expensive and compulsory activity that affects the whole population. However, they cannot be held responsible for an overall structure which evolves to defeat objectives of equal opportunity and high expectations for all the nation's children.
Will Taylor, UK

My work with a major company involves links with education. I'm afraid I drew the line at being asked to give money (sponsorship) to non-attendees to encourage them to come into school and take their GCSEs. When I raised my concerns about the message this would give to the pupils who did attend and were not absent the discussion ended!
Chris, UK

The organisational shifting sand over the decades is not a proper foundation Mike, England

The system is fundamentally flawed. The organisational shifting sand over the decades is not a proper foundation. It does not teach the basics well. Take our very own language, with little or no grammar being taught we are soon going to outlast those who can teach it. So, when any government does an about face on the subject and decides we need to have grammar classes, there will not be enough English people capable of teaching it.
Mike, England

Children should have elementary skills in reading, writing and counting before they get to school. These lessons should come from their parents and family. Don't blame the teachers for the failings of the families.
Alan, Wales, UK

Our Education system, one of the finest during the first half of the 20th century, lets our children down. The teachers' hands are tied because of "political correctness" a phrase of which I am heartily sick of. We have an education system which seems to leave children in charge.
We are not allowed to chastise our children at home so what chance do the teachers have? It is time the government stopped throwing money at hopeless causes, started to re-educate people on the basic needs of families and put this country back on its feet instead of allowing it to gradually sink beneath the waves.
Mrs H Harding, England

I was not employed to fill forms in Mike, UK

I'm probably one of the luckier teachers in the UK as in the school I've worked at for the past 10 years about 90% of the pupils want to do well and want to work. However as I recall I was employed to teach, I was not employed to fill forms in. Since Labour came to power the paperwork a teacher has to do has increased every year.
Mike, UK

I am fed up with the education system. If we hadn't moved from Kent my boys would have achieved much higher grades than they will get now. Their school has 1,300 pupils between 13 and 18. It is the only school in the area and in his GCSE year my son has about 1 hour's homework a week!!!! There are good teachers at the school but their expectations of pupils' achievement are too low.
Jenny vass, England

As someone who has recruited school and college leavers in the past year, it is painfully obvious that our schools are not good enough. The quality of those leaving is just awful, and the failings are in the very basic areas of not being able to write coherently or understand basic maths and science issues.
Bernard, UK

Criticism is very easy from behind a clipboard Andy, UK

Criticism is very easy from behind a clipboard; I would suggest that the Ofsted inspectors (most of whom I am told, hold no teaching qualifications) get up and show the teachers how to do it. I live with a teacher who has spent the last month preparing for an inspection, only to be given the magic satisfactory after her first observed lesson.

She was disappointed but accepted that this was not her finest hour in the classroom, and this is the point: Ofsted will witness maybe three hours of teaching per teacher in five years, and those three hours will be the most stressful because somebody at the back of the room is looking to find fault. Does Ofsted really expect to find representative teaching under these conditions?
Andy, UK

It winds me up when I keep hearing about the lack of teachers. I've recently responded to the government's drive to recruit more teachers to primary education: 10 years experience in the real world, well skilled, excited by the prospect, yet all the PGCE courses within 50 miles are full. I'm waiting... call me!!!
Jon, UK

If "satisfactory" is no longer good enough, then "good" will become the new "satisfactory" Sandi Lieber, UK/USA

If "satisfactory" is no longer good enough, and is eliminated, then "good" will become the new "satisfactory", using similar criteria. It would be a dumbing down of teaching standards, rather than a building up. Of course, if Mr Bell wishes to completely rid himself of the entire teaching profession in England, he can continue on this course of pressuring teachers here until they all leave. What would be considered "satisfactory" if there isn't a teacher to teach the classes?
Sandi Lieber, UK/USA

I'm 16 and have just started an apprenticeship since leaving school last year. I personally found my GCSEs a breeze but a lot of people struggled. Teachers push you non-stop and never ease up on pressurising you. People go into exams so nervous they just can't perform, I personally took it easy and I did great!
Daniel McMahon, UK

No wonder teachers are quitting or developing depression and severe stress. Classroom sizes are far too big!
Robbie G, England

As is usual in all things to do with education, these figures will have been fixed as well and we can expect them to rise (either by grade inflation or by lowering of standards) year on year regardless of what standards actually are.
Tom, England

This report is too quick to condemn - my school definitely learnt me proper!
Calum Steen, UK

Schools would be good enough if teachers were allowed to do their jobs Darek, UK

Schools would be good enough if the teachers were allowed to do their jobs. With the current set of laws and legislations their hands are tied.
Darek, UK

How well our schools are performing has become impossible to determine, since the emergence of examination pass-rates as the principal objective. Exams have become obviously easier, grades have been eroded and exam technique has become one of the most important skills in the curriculum.

Pass rates and grades have soared almost ludicrously, but it is not surprising that for employers such attainments count for less and less. The government needs to turn this situation around by establishing and maintaining truly definable national standards for examiners to follow, including much more continual assessment and less formal examination.
Brian Crabb, Wales

Why don't they turn up unannounced and get a true picture? Jenni, UK

I just finished my A-levels at a school that always got good Ofsted reports. One teacher used to teach the same lesson twice - once before the inspectors got there, and once while the lesson was being monitored - to give the impression that the pupils understood everything straight away.

With another teacher we'd look forward to the inspections, because we knew it was the only lesson of the year when she would actually teach us, rather than tell us to copy out of the text book. The schools are given too much warning of the inspections. Why don't they turn up unannounced and get a true picture of what's wrong with the schools? That way they'd know what they need to fix.
Jenni, UK

But what does the word "satisfactory" mean with respect to the quality of teaching? To me it would imply that the teaching provided is fit for the purpose for which it is intended. If not, then the terminology is wrong. I find the continued existence of "satisfactory" teaching reassuring, as it tells us standards are not being racked up to be meaningless, as has happened with the so-called "Research Assessment Exercise" in the universities.

The time to be discontent is when you see reports of a very high percentage of "excellent" teaching. This would mean one of two things: firstly that the schools had sussed out the system, or secondly that the system wasn't being applied rigorously.
Rodger Edwards, UK

I am currently studying for my A-levels and will hopefully be starting at university later this year. Satisfactory is certainly not good enough if you are a pupil. As a student I aspire to get the best grades I can possibly achieve, which requires productive lessons. My school is due to be visited by Ofsted next week and I have been disturbed by the huge amount of pretence that goes into the preparation for the inspection. Ofsted will not view the school as it is, meaning improvements are less likely to be made.
Emma, England

In 1998 our school after an Ofsted inspection was put into special measures. In 2000 HMI took us out of special measures saying we were good. In 2001 the LEA looked at the school and said they were happy. In 2000 Ofsted inspected again, said there had been little improvement and want to put us back in special measures. All this is at best confusing for parents and disheartening for staff who worked their socks off to improve the achievements of the pupils. Until David Bell achieves consistency in his own department he can't really question if satisfactory is good enough
Kevin Munn, chair of governors, UK

If "satisfactory" isn't good enough, then it isn't satisfactory, is it?
Keith, UK

Teachers are part-time administrators and part-time zoo keepers Paul, UK

I'm fed up of constant teacher bashing that occurs. If teachers were not snowed under with paper work, paid low salaries and actually able to discipline children then maybe they could actually do their job. Teachers literally have no effective means of punishment left. A letter home to parents? Half the time the parents are worse than the children! Detention is now apparently ''against the child's human rights''!! Teachers are no longer teachers, they are part-time administrators and part-time zoo keepers.
Paul, UK

One person teaching 40 kids. No ability to discipline the 'disruptive' kids. Huge sections of curriculum removed from GCSE subjects effectively dumbing them down. I wouldn't call that satisfactory, never mind good enough! We've had 10 years of decline (at least!) coinciding with 10 years of 'improvements'. Maybe taking things back that far will improve standards to a satisfactory level.
Steve G, UK

From having contract teachers teaching compulsory subjects that they haven't been trained in to 80% of black boys in London schools leaving without any qualifications, the schools are not good enough. If that's not a crisis on a massive scale, I don't know what is. But let's not blame teachers, they don't have any power with disruptive students, the pay is not enough to entice or keep anyone decent, and they can't move for paper work. I think Tony's mantra should be changed to "war, war, war"...!
Wendy, UK

I spent half of my schooling (in the mid-90s) twiddling my thumbs waiting for classmates to catch up as I had finished the hours lesson in 20 minutes. Start stretching the pupils, particularly the more able, and standards may start to improve. Labour is so keen to bring everyone to a certain mediocre level that they disregard the bright children they are actually pulling down.
Rachael, UK

The education is there for the taking if you want it Sarah, England

I think we just have to face the fact that some kids just don't want to learn and want to make it difficult for those who do. This is often the problem in so-called 'tougher' schools. I think it has a lot to do with how kids are brought up. I went to an extremely tough school where the GCSE pass rate was well below average, but I still managed to get to uni.

Luckily I have parents that have pushed me to do better than they did and gave me a sense of self worth and respect for others. Unfortunately a lot of kids these days don't get that. So I don't think it's necessarily right to blame the schools. The education is there for the taking if you want it.
Sarah, England

Teachers can only do so much. Parents contribute to the "success" of their children in providing the right environment at home. There is also, possibly, too great an emphasis placed on academic achievement which will always be out of reach to a sizable minority. Finding the areas of potential excellence for these children is a major challenge to the whole of our society.
Alan Harrison, UK

I have just pulled my 8-year-old out of a quality marked middle class village school as the standard of teaching of basic maths skills left this bright boy unable to use basic + - x, etc. The school stated that the numeracy hour focused on problem solving and not on the development of these basic skills. How do you solve problems without them???

He is now thriving at a private prep school teaching basic skills in the traditional way. His progress in three weeks is outstanding. Why do we subject our children to new trendy approaches like guinea pigs? Stick to what works. We are failing our children with the current system.
Ann, UK

If we can get over 50% through the system and into university, it can't be all bad.
Zorba Eisenhower, UK

Satisfactory is not good enough but is probably all we can expect from the current arrangement Geoff, UK

Satisfactory is not good enough but is probably all we can expect from the current arrangement. Real excellence cannot emerge from the atmosphere of severe distrust created by the accountability-mania throughout public services. Ask any good manager, distrusting your employees minimises risk but produces begrudging co-operation at best. I am an ex-teacher now (thank God) and most of my ex-colleagues say the same thing: "Trust me to do the job I love without petty-minded interference, or else I'm joining the exodus out of here."
Geoff, UK

Our schools are nowhere near good enough. They would be if teachers were left alone to do their jobs and discipline was restored to the classroom.
Philip Cleveland, UK

I think that the standards in schools are deteriorating. I'm the youngest of six children, and some of the topics I learnt for maths A-level, my brothers did for O-level. This is a bit of a sweeping statement and I acknowledge it's not true for all topics in all subjects (but it is for most).

The government (past and present) have a bee in the bonnet about raising standards for all children, but the only way to measure this is by exam results. Unfortunately this has led to exams getting easier. How can the intelligence of the population as a whole increase across the board every year? I just don't buy it.
Rob, UK