Too many schools had not yet forged partnerships with their communities

Ofsted report

While the overall development of specialist schools was positive, offering "good value for money", Ofsted inspectors said the "community dimension" was the weakest aspect of the work of 46 schools they visited last year for a progress report.

"The majority of schools had found it difficult to define, develop and manage," the report said.

"Too many schools had not yet forged partnerships with their communities; nor did they understand fully how they could provide learning opportunities for specific groups."

Sport specialists

Only sports colleges were singled out as having responded well to their responsibilities in this area.

Inspectors found links between sports clubs, national governing bodies, adult community groups and primary schools were well established in all the schools visited.

Mr Tomlinson

The inspections also found that the quality of teaching in specialist schools was much the same as the national profile.

There was "a good deal of scope" for improvement in the management skills of heads of department, with only two thirds of the schools visited judged to be of a good standard in this area.

Inspectors also wanted to see improvements made in a school's specialist subject - such as art, languages, technology - having more impact on results in other parts of the curriculum.

The findings come a month after the government announced plans in its White Paper to increase the number of specialist schools from 700 currently to 1,500 by 2005.

Critics of the scheme say it creates a two-tier system of education, because specialist schools receive a �100,000 grant from the Department for Education, once they have raised �50,000 in sponsorship, as well as an extra �123 per pupil per year.

Better results

But the overall picture of the specialist schools programme was encouraging, with four fifths of schools meeting the aims of the scheme, the chief inspector, Mike Tomlinson, insisted.

Analysis of GCSE results from 327 specialist schools showed that their pupils were achieving better grades than in comprehensives.

Reading between the lines, it is not too difficult to see that the sham argument for specialist schools is exposed

Nigel de Gruchy, NASUWT

Although in sports colleges the proportion of pupils achieving five A to C grades was lower than the national average.

On average children at specialist colleges were taught for an extra hour per week, Mr Tomlinson added.

He also dismissed claims that pupils in specialist schools received considerably more funds than pupils in maintained schools.

"The total income for each pupil ranged from �2,041 to �3,356, with the average of �2,646 being �84 (3.5%) more than the national average of �2,380," the report stated.

The average percentage of pupils receiving free schools meals in specialist schools was well above the national figure - 28.9% compared with 17.8%.

"So we're not dealing with children solely from the leafy suburbs, so to speak," Mr Tomlinson said.

And the average percentage of pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds was similar to the national average at 12.2% compared with 11.5%.

'Built-in advantages

General secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Doug McAvoy, said specialist schools had built-in advantages provided by the government.

"They have additional resources and sponsorship, making them attractive to parents. They have the power to select and, being oversubscribed, to pick and choose their pupils," said Mr McAvoy.

"Their success in providing high quality education is to be welcomed and should be spread to pupils in every secondary school. To ensure that, the additional resources should be available to the many and not just the select few," he said.

Nigel de Gruchy, general secretary of the NASUWT said: "Reading between the lines, it is not too difficult to see that the sham argument for specialist schools is exposed."

"It is evident that overall their performance is only slightly better than the national average," he said.

'Benefits for all'

John Dunford, general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association which has many specialist school heads among its members, praised the "imaginative" work many of them were doing.

But he added: "I want the benefits of specialist college status to be extended to all secondary schools as soon as possible to avoid further accusations of creating a two-tier system."

The Liberal Democrat education spokesman, Phil Willis, said the Ofsted report confirmed the party's fears that specialist schools were creating a two-tier, two-speed school system.

"If this is Ofsted's view of specialist schools at the infancy of the government's flagship policy, by 2005 Labour will have created a new class of bog standard secondary modern schools."

On track

A spokeswoman for the Department for Education said the Ofsted report showed most specialist schools were achieving the aims set for them.

These schools had to seek renewal of their status every four years and those that failed to prove they were sharing expertise could lose it, she said.

"We will continue to work with specialist schools to develop this part of the programme."