A SCHOOL on the up is how Government inspectors summed up a St Albans secondary following a recent visit. Ofsted — Office for Standards in Education — highlighted improvements at Marlborough School in Watling Street in their report which was released on F

A SCHOOL on the up is how Government inspectors summed up a St Albans secondary following a recent visit.

Ofsted - Office for Standards in Education - highlighted improvements at Marlborough School in Watling Street in their report which was released on Friday.

It was described as an "improving school" with "many strengths" in the report which marked the overall effectiveness of the school as satisfactory.

The report recognised that the number of students achieving five good GCSE grades was above the national average and commended the "rapidly-improved" quality of teaching.

The inspectors also reported that the school's redesignation as a specialist science college in 2007 had positive effects, including a "broadened curriculum choice", especially for sixth-formers who had access to a "wide range of motivating courses".

The report praised Marlborough students as "open, friendly and welcoming" due to the care, guidance and support offered by the school. The effectiveness of the sixth form was marked as being above average and the inspectors were particularly impressed by the art, law, photography and textiles lessons.

But the report also noted that the school's performance in English and mathematics was below the national average, adding that improvement was too slow. But the inspectors predicted that the departments in question would be better by the end of the year.