AS Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools, I speak independently and impartially, without fear or favour, on the state of the English education system.

In my first annual report since taking up post at the Office for Standards in Education last May, I reflect on the progress that has been made over the 10-year lifespan of Ofsted, and look at the quality and standard of our education system over the past year.

So, I am pleased to reassure headteachers, governors, parents and pupils reading tonight's Evening News that high quality teaching is becoming a reality for more and more of our pupils, both nationally and here in the West Midlands.

I make clear that our schools have been getting better, but the education system continues to fail too many of our young people, particularly less academic pupils. I believe this poses a considerable obstacle that could stand in the way of the Government achieving its aim of creating a world class education system.

I would like to praise the four schools in Worcestershire that have performed outstandingly well over the school year covered by my report.

I have included Flyford Flavell Infants, Evesham Nursery, Chaddesley Corbett Endowed, and Burlish Park First School in my list of 450 good schools that I have published today.

I am also pleased to see that five schools in Worcestershire have improved enough to be removed from special measures.

Well done Redgrove Special School, The Sladen CofE Middle, Sion Hill Middle, Upton-upon-Severn CofE Primary and Foley Park First School!

During the course of the past year Ofsted inspectors have found that national standards have improved because the quality of teaching is better. Some 70 per cent of teaching is now good or better and only 4 per cent of teaching unsatisfactory. This is good news indeed, however I make no apologies for asking - is the remaining 26 per cent of ''satisfactory'' teaching really good enough for our children given the rising expectations from wider society?

The challenge ahead now must surely be to maintain the momentum of improvement so that more and more pupils receive good teaching in well-managed schools.

But I am concerned about a number of problems facing some of our schools and colleges. I know of hundreds of schools facing challenging circumstances and multiple layers of difficulty both inside and outside the school gate. One particular problem is the recruitment and retention of specialist teachers. There can often be low and worsening rates of attendance in some of these secondary schools, particularly in Years 10 and 11. There are also the additional problems of high mobility rates, and unsatisfactory behaviour of pupils in too many such schools.

Whilst there have been some remarkable improvements in literacy in primary schools over the past five or six years, I remain concerned at the levels of literacy, particularly in boys.

We cannot be content with a situation where one 14-year-old in five is failing to reach the level expected of 11-year-olds. Even at younger levels one-quarter of pupils, a high proportion of them boys, are transferring to secondary schools without reaching our national expectations in English and maths.

There remain unacceptably low levels of achievement in some pupil groups - pupils from some ethnic minorities, children in public care, children of asylum-seekers and refugees, and socially disadvantaged white boys.

Too many students are also being let down by unsatisfactory provision in some further education colleges.

It is worrying that almost a fifth of the 100 or more FE colleges Ofsted has inspected since becoming responsible for the inspection of the FE sector in September 2001, have been judged inadequate. I have found there to be a stark contrast between the wealth of choice available to well-qualified A-level students and the paucity of opportunity for less academic students at lower levels or in work-related areas. These problems need to be addressed and Ofsted will work closely with schools and colleges to identify the underlying issues.

But it would be both inaccurate and unfair to paint too bleak a picture of education in England. Indeed, since Ofsted's creation a decade ago there have been many achievements including the rising standards of attainment, improvements in teaching and strong leadership.

One of the successes in the last 10 years has been the improvement in the quality of teaching. It is no longer unusual for an Ofsted inspection team to report no unsatisfactory teaching during the week of a school inspection.

We should rightly acknowledge and praise the immense and outstanding achievements we have seen in an encouraging number of schools and colleges throughout the West Midlands and England.

But let me be clear, there is still much more to be done to ensure that this momentum of improvement continues in the West Midlands' schools and colleges if we are to achieve better standards of education for all our young people.

As Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools I will work to ensure that Ofsted continues to play a key role as provider of an independent quality inspection system. Independent inspection has a key role as guarantor of public accountability, a principle on which I will not compromise as Her Majesty's Chief Inspector.