AFTER a particularly damning Ofsted report, the Department for Education has tonight declared that there is no future for Durham Free School. It will close at Easter despite a campaign by parents to save the Christian academy.

In confirming the closure, Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said it was clear there was no imminent prospect of improvement, and that she was not prepared to let any child remain in a failing school.

The death-knell for Durham Free School has come on the same day that another prominent North-East faith school – St Aidan's Church of England Academy in Darlington – was being given another chance.

Despite millions of pounds of investment, a new look, and a new name to break from the past, St Aidan's has also been found guilty of failing its pupils. Ofsted inspectors judged the academy to be "inadequate" in November, citing poor teaching, bad behaviour and low pupil achievement.

The principal, Catherine McCoy, and assistant principal, Stephanie Francome, are stepping down on health grounds and a new senior leadership team is to be recruited.

St Aidan's, formerly known as Eastbourne Comprehensive, has been given every chance to overcome long-standing problems and it is time to deliver clear improvements in the way pupils are taught, how they behave, and what they achieve.

In calling time on Durham Free School, the Education Secretary has laid down a marker: children will not be left in a failing school with no prospect of swift improvement.

The message to St Aidan's in Darlington could not be clearer. It is now or never.