Shadow children's minister Michael Gove wants to "shine the light of accountability on all schools to ensure that parents do not have to put up with a second class education for their children".
More than 100,000 children are being taught in "coasting" schools which fail to stretch their most able students.
The schools, many of which are located in leafy suburbs and shire counties, have avoided scrutiny in the past because they achieved average or better than average exam results. But the statistics hid the fact that talented pupils failed to achieve their full potential.
Figures obtained by this paper from more than half of England's 150 education authorities suggest that at least 130 schools across the country can be classed as "coasting".
The figures are an embarrassment for the Government which has poured millions of pounds into raising standards in secondary schools and improving provision for bright pupils.
Michael Gove, the shadow children's secretary, said: "It is worrying that so many schools are being identified as coasting. Parents have a right to expect that heads are continually striving for improvement. We need to shine the light of accountability on all schools to ensure that parents do not have to put up with a second class education for their children."
Schools are classed by the Government as "coasting" if they display one or more of a list of indicators. These include pupils starting school with good SATs results but going on to get poor GCSEs, "unimpressive" pupil progress, static exam results, disappointing Ofsted ratings, "complacent" leadership and lack of pupil tracking and early intervention.
The Sunday Telegraph asked education authorities if they had entered any of their schools into a new Government scheme, called Gaining Ground, which aims to tackling coasting secondary schools.
Of the 83 councils which responded, 34 said they have entered more than 76 schools between them. Some, such as Calderdale, Leicestershire, Bedfordshire, Herefordshire and Norfolk, have entered at least five coasting schools each.
If the responses were replicated across all 150 authorities in England, it would mean that more than 130 schools, with more than 130,000 pupils, would be affected.
The £40 million Gaining Ground scheme aimed at "kick starting" coasting schools will start next month. It will pay for consultants and training in the schools and for possible federations with successful secondaries. If schools fail to respond, local authorities have the power to intervene, by replacing governing bodies or head teachers.
Councils with schools in the scheme denied that they were "coasting" and said none were complacent. A number of shire counties also complained of years of low per pupil funding, with the lion's share of Government spending focused on inner cities.
Karen Charters, the head of school improvement at Gloucestershire County Council, which has five schools in the Gaining Ground scheme, said: "These schools are not seen as 'coasting' – they had already been addressing issues and measures are in place to support improvement. There should be no suggestion of complacency on the part of the authority or the schools."
Leicestershire County Council said: "The term 'coasting' is not a phrase the authority wishes to subscribe to. It is not clearly defined and for some implies negative characteristics, such as complacency, that cannot be fairly ascribed to the schools."
Norfolk County Council also objected to the term. It said the eight schools it had proposed for the scheme, which were yet to be signed off by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, were judged by Ofsted to be satisfactory but with the potential to improve.
Professor Alan Smithers, the director of the centre for education and employment research at Buckingham University questioned how successful the Gaining Ground measures would be.
"What is proposed smacks of bureaucratic intervention" he said. "Labour does not have a very good track record and has spent immense amounts of money on education in the last 12 years but we still have failing and coasting schools. Sending in consultants sounds like tinkering at the edges. "Research shows that what makes the greatest difference is the quality of teaching. The quality of teaching and shortages of specialist teachers in areas like maths, physics and foreign languages needs to be addressed."
Head teachers criticised the crudeness of the indicators used by the Government to categorise schools.
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: "Local authorities should not be forced to label schools as 'coasting' on the basis of only one indicator. Five of the indicators on the list do not qualify as good reasons on their own to judge a school."
A Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman said: "These schools are not 'failing' schools – they will have acceptable, or sometimes even good results, but may not be fulfilling the potential of their pupils. Sometimes they may not be stretching their most able pupils, or perhaps not meeting the needs of their pupils who face difficulties.
"These schools may not have received focused attention to date, but will now qualify for additional funding and support to raise their ambition and improve pupils' progress."
COUNCILS WITH 'COASTING' SCHOOLS
Authorities marked “at least 1” have indicated that they hold information on coasting schools but have refused to provide it. Some authorities have provided the number of coasting schools but refused to supply their names.
Bath and North East Somerset: at least 1
Bedfordshire: 5
Birmingham: at least 1
Bournemouth: 2 – Glenmoor School, Winton Arts and Media College
Bradford: at least 1
Calderdale: 5 – Hipperholme and Lightcliffe High School, Holy Trinity CofE Senior School, Rastrick High School, Sowerby Bridge School, Todmorden High School.
Cambridgeshire: 3 – Abbey College, Cromwell Community College, Melborun Village College
Doncaster: 1 – Armthorpe School
Dudley: at least 1
East Riding: 1 – Howden Secondary School
East Sussex: at least 1
Gloucestershire: 4 – Archway School, Lakers Comprehensive School, Marling School, Sir William Romney’s School
Herefordshire: 5
Hillingdon: at least 1
Hull: 4
Isle of Wight: 2
Leicestershire: 5 – Groby Community College, Hind Leys Community College, Bosworth Community College, Guthlaxton Community College, Countesthorpe Community College
Middlesbrough: 1 – The Newlands FCJ School
Milton Keynes: at least 1
Norfolk: 8 – Cromer High, Flegg High, Hellesdon High, Hamond’s High, Long Stratton High, Sprowston Community High, Stalham High, Taverham High
North East Lincolnshire: 1 – Humberston Comprehensive School
Northumberland: 1
Nottinghamshire: at least 1
Portsmouth: 2 – City of Portsmouth Girls’ School, St Edmund’s Catholic School
Somerset: 5
St Helens: at least 1
Stockport: at least 1
Sunderland: 3 – Washington School, Hetton School, Monkwearmouth School
Surrey: at least 1
Trafford: 1 – Flixton Girls High
Warrington: 2 – Penketh High, Woolston Community High
Wakefield: at least 1
West Sussex: at least one
Wiltshire: 3
