WHILE Ofsted appears set to publish a damning report into the state of schooling in Nottingham, improving GCSE results over several years paint a different picture.
This year, more than half of city GCSE students gained five or more A* to C grades including English and maths for the first time.
This came after several years of continuous improvement.
Five years ago, only 34.7 per cent of students reached this important mark, leading to much criticism and soul-searching among education officials.
To turn that figure into 51 per cent come this summer was a remarkable achievement, which was celebrated across the city.
In the 2013 GCSE exams at some schools, nearly all students achieved the benchmark.
Meanwhile, three-quarters did so at Trinity School, in Aspley, and more than six in ten managed it at Bluecoat Academy and Nottingham Emmanuel School.
The figure at Nottingham Academy was 58 per cent.
At the same time, education chiefs recognised the need for continued improvement, something the blitz by Ofsted has highlighted.
Though there have been rapid improvements, the city has remained around the bottom when it comes to GCSE league tables, as other local authority areas have made improvements at the same time.
Following the publication of GCSE results tables earlier this year, the city council's education supremo Councillor David Mellen said: "We have seen a big rise in recent years.
"Hopefully we can continue to do so. The council works with the schools and has a good partnership with those which have become academies."
It is likely that this position in the league table was one of the triggers for Ofsted's decision to send its inspectors to Nottingham en masse two weeks ago.
