SIX secondary schools have been told to improve or face drastic action The government has warned schools which fail to get 30 per cent of their pupils five decent GCSEs, including English and maths, will be closed, merged or converted into academies if they do not improve within three years.

In Bournemouth the four schools that missed the target last year were The Bishop of Winchester, Kings High School, Portchester School and Oakmead College of Technology.

And in Poole, Rossmore Community College and the Carter Community School missed the benchmark.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls has said that schools that do not improve by 2011 will require radical transformation.

These changes could include the formation of "supertrusts", which would involve pooling skills from the grammar schools or collaboration with a university or business.

There are 638 schools in the country that do not meet the government's benchmark. Many of these are in areas with grammar schools.

Head of inclusion and achievement for Bournemouth council Di Mitchell said:"Four of our schools have an action plan in place for the coming academic year and we are confident that all Bournemouth schools will meet and exceed by the deadline of 2011."

She added that specialist schools are already helping schools that are struggling with particular subjects.

Stuart Twiss, head of children and young people's services for the Borough of Poole, said: "Poole has two secondary schools below the targets set by the government.

"Rossmore Community College is part of the Building Schools for the Future programme aimed at raising standards and transforming the role of the school. We already have plans in place to support the school since it was given a notice to improve by Ofsted.

"Carter Community School is a good school and has plans, supported by the local authority, to increase attainment further. Last year, both schools achieved their best results at GCSE since 2003. We will respond to the government once we have received the minister's letter and studied it in detail."