Barry Comprehensive is seeing red after being placed in the worst performing band in a new Welsh education report.

The Welsh Government National School Categorisation System, in force since 2014, reviews how well each primary and secondary school in Wales is performing.

The system is built around verifying each school’s own self-evaluation and takes into account current standards and the capacity to improve.

Schools are given one of four ratings, A to D, for their ability to improve further.

They are then placed into one of four colour coded categories – green, yellow, amber, or red – which rate the level of future support or challenge needed for them to progress.

The latest results placed 43.1 per cent of the Vale’s 59 schools in the top category for standards – a figure that has doubled since January 2015 – and nearly nine out of ten schools were rated green or yellow.

However, Barry Comprehensive is rated red for the second consecutive year.

Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for children’s services and schools, Cllr Chris Elmore said: “The colour coding system is designed to allow local authorities to direct support to the schools that will benefit most from receiving it.

"The fact that Barry Comprehensive school is categorised as red means that it is getting the greatest support available from both the Vale of Glamorgan Council and Welsh Government.

"This support is already having an impact, something that was made clear in the school’s significantly improved exams results last summer.”

Cllr Elmore added that the overall results showed the Vale’s schools were some of the best in Wales.

He said: “More importantly these figures help us to identify the areas on which to focus our efforts in the future to ensure that no school or pupil is left behind as education standards across the Vale of Glamorgan continue to rise.”

The Barry and District News offered Barry Comprehensive head teacher Gerard McNamara the opportunity to comment.