Ofsted today begins a major inspection of primary schools in Medway, where Year 6 results are the worst in the country.

Inspectors will spend a week visiting 10 schools across the Towns to find out if improvements are happening fast enough.

They will also phone several other schools not on the list to complete a survey.

Last summer 28% of Medway's Year 6 pupils failed to reach the recommended level 4 in English and Maths - worse than any other council area.

Twenty-nine of Medway's primaries (40%) are ranked "requires improvement" or "inadequate", accounting for almost 8,000 pupils.

Matthew Coffey, Ofsted regional director for the south east, said: "It cannot be right that disadvantaged children are being failed by the education system.

"That is why today and over the next few days, my inspectors will be visiting a number of schools in Medway to find out whether performance is improving.

"We will be paying particular attention to the effectiveness and impact of the support these schools are receiving from the local authority."

Medway Council recently sacked its cabinet member for children's services Cllr Les Wicks (Con).

Before he left he claimed schools were already improving significantly.

He was replaced by education chief Cllr Mike O'Brien (Con) and another councillor, Kelly Tolhurst (Con), who has a specific responsibility for school improvement.

All 10 inspections were routine inspections due to be held this year, but they have been timed together to analyse how the schools are relating with the council.

Ofsted's findings will be shared with the council, schools and the wider public in about a month.

If negative, they could lead to one of the country's first full probes on improvement across a whole council area, rather than at individual schools, after Ofsted was given new powers this month.

This week's inspection will include secondary schools but focus mainly on primaries.

Cllr O’Brien said: “We welcome these visits by Ofsted inspectors to Medway's schools. Their findings will give a clear indication of where we are and how far we have to go in ensuring children have access to the best possible education.

"We fully accept that there is more to be done to raise standards. We are committed to providing the best for our young people and that will continue to be of the utmost importance to us."