Rapid progress was made in the autumn term. Behaviour had improved notably and teaching became more effective. This was recognised by Ofsted at a monitoring visit in December and further improvements have been made since. However, from the start the IEB was clear that even if the school improved significantly, its future would still be at risk.
This is because the school's long-term decline had resulted in a continually decreasing number of pupils on roll. (Currently there are 372 students in Years 7 to 11, making the school less than half full). This in turn had led to the school being in considerable and increasing debt.