WINSFORD Academy bosses are considering taking legal action against the Department for Education (DfE) after they were named and shamed as an under-performing school.

The Winsford Academy was named as one of the 329 state schools that have fallen below ‘floor standards’ for secondary schools in England.

These are the schools that failed to ensure enough pupils attained five good GCSE grades and made sufficient progress.

Fallibroome Multi-Academy Trust took over sponsorship of Winsford Academy in September 2014, after the Department for Education withdrew academy chain E-ACT’s right to sponsor the school.

As reported last month, The Winsford Academy called on their MP to help with a ‘vigorous appeal' to prevent the DfE publishing last year’s GCSE results in its current form.

“Winsford parents are aware that we have challenged the DfE's publication of results,” Peter Rubery, The Winsford Academy’s executive principal, said.

“They will be outraged by the suggestion that their school is under-performing.”

The issue has happened because the school entered all Year 11 students for the English (Combined) GCSE as well as entering their best students for the additional English Literature exam.

However, this does not meet the Government’s approved combination of subjects.

Mr Rubery called the data ‘wholly misleading’ and said The Academy's Governors will now consider a legal challenge to the DfE.

He also urged parents to support the ongoing appeal against the ‘injustice caused by a failure to acknowledge the success of a talented group of students’.

“We are mystified by the Government's decision to publish these figures and are delighted that our local MP, Antoinette Sandbach, has supported our appeal and written to all parents,” Mr Rubery said.

“As the DfE's data does not reflect the Academy's true performance we may be left with no option other than to challenge the DfE in court if necessary.”

Ms Sandbach and Mr Rubery recently met with Nick Gibb, Minister of State at the Department for Education, to present their objections, though it did not affect the eventual outcome.

The Winsford MP said the results are not reflective of the strides the school has made in recent months.

Ms Sandbach said: “Far from under-performing the Winsford Academy is making impressive progress under the guidance of its new sponsor, The Fallibroome Trust.

“I strongly advise parents to look at the Academy's website for a full and complete account of the achievements of a hard working group of students and their excellent teachers, rather than looking at the DfE website results which don’t present the whole picture of the achievements at the school.”