School administration could be taken over by a private firm

The warning from the Department for Children, Schools and Families comes after the city performed poorly in national league tables.

The city council said it was working to improve standards and would develop an action plan by the end of the month.

Union leaders have warned of poor morale - and said they feared the education service could be privatised.

Clearly we have not been getting it right for the children of our city up until now Councillor Vi Dempster

Peter Flack from the National Union of Teachers in Leicester said he was very concerned about the government tactics - calling it "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut".

"Behind all this the government has a long-standing privatisation agenda - they favour outsourcing."

The council must improve by the end of the academic year in the spring of 2008 or face government intervention, possibly an administrative takeover by a private educational consultancy.

Chris Hassell, head teacher of Taylor Road Primary School, said he has already spoken to other head teachers who are thinking of leaving Leicester.

"What concerns me is that it is all negativity at the moment."

The council spokesman for education, councillor Vi Dempster, said the government action was fair, but added the city had the capacity to improve.

"Clearly we have not been getting it right for the children of our city up until now," she added.

"There is no point in making excuses, we need to move forward - we are not doing well enough. We need to take the help on offer and ratchet things up a notch."