When Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Education under the last Labour government announced the National Challenge Programme in 2007, the city of Birmingham found itself with 40% of its 75 secondary schools in the National Challenge category i.e. 30 secondary schools were failing to achieve the unambitious and arbitrary 30% of pupils passing five GCSE subjects at grades A*-C including English and Maths. This is underachievement on an industrial scale and one of the worst for size of Local Authority!

Had central government not micro-managed National Challenge Schools via National Challenge Advisers, Birmingham would have carried on coasting along, blaming historical low attainment on English as An Additional Language (EAL), Free School Meals (FSM), dry rot at home, dry rot in the head, feminism, etc.