LIVERPOOL’S only grammar school will take over the city’s worst- performing school, minister Ed Balls confirmed last night.

Parklands High School, Speke, is among the worst 200 schools according to GCSE league tables. But Whitehall has now rubber- stamped a takeover by the Blue Coat – Liverpool’s best- performing school.

The grammar school’s head teacher, Debbie Silcock, will run the management of Parklands, which will also get a £750,000 cash injection to help improve standards.

Last year, only 15% of Parklands pupils got five good GCSEs, including maths and English.

This showed massive improvements on the 2007 performance when just 1% got through, earning it the dubious accolade of the UK’s worst school.

Now the schools will become the city’s first government-backed National Challenge Trust, meaning Blue Coat’s governors will take over all aspects of the way it is run including its curriculum, teaching methods, literacy, numeracy, lesson plans, hiring, and even uniform.

Parklands head Alan Smithies has backed the move, and current teachers are expected to remain.

Mr Balls said schools who had already been part of the national challenge scheme were showing marked signs of improvement.