A Biggleswade school has pledged to get back on track after being deemed to require improvement by inspectors.

Ofsted rated Stratton Upper School as good for their sixth form, but found it to require improvement in all other areas,

The inspection – carried out on April 24 and 25 this year – found the school had declined since Ofsted last visited in 2015, when it was rated good across the board.

The report, published on Friday, includes the comment: “Many staff and parents and carers express concerns about the direction the school has taken. They have lost confidence in leaders and the headteacher.

“Leaders’ evaluation of performance has not been sharp enough. Consequently, school improvement has been slow.”

Behaviour of students in lessons was also raised as a concern, along with low expectations from teachers and poor pupil attendance.

Significant staffing changes were also found to have disrupted the quality of teaching at the Eagle Farm Road school – while until this year, some subject leaders lacked support to develop expertise for leading teaching in their curriculum areas.

However, Ofsted found that “the sixth-form provision is good and older pupils make good progress to their next stage of education, work or training”, adding: “Leaders’ current improvement plans demonstrate an accurate understanding of the school’s priorities.”

It was also noted that pupils’ behaviour is improving and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well throughout the school.

In a statement, a spokeswoman for Stratton Upper School said: “The school acknowledges the judgement with their endorsement that we are focused on the right priorities.

“Ofsted defines ‘requires improvement’ as ‘a school that is not good but overall provides an acceptable standard of education’ and we are working hard to ensure Stratton returns to a good rating again in the near future.

“The report acknowledges that we are already on the road to improvement and we do understand what needs to be done to get us back to good.

“We are pleased that the sixth form remains good and are proud of the opportunities we offer our students for a range of career and further education pathways.”