MORE schools are expected to fail inspections this year after Ofsted began knocking off marks for keeping doors open, having low playground fences, and other safety breaches.

The revised inspection system came into force in September and has already led to several complaints nationally as schools fall foul of tough new standards for protecting children's safety and ensuring good academic results.

St Wulstan's Catholic Primary, in Wolstanton, recently became the first Staffordshire school to go into special measures after the changes were made.

Now Staffordshire County Council has warned there is a strong likelihood more of its schools will either fail inspections or be served with a 'notice to improve'.

And education officials claim Ofsted inspectors are creating even more angst for school staff with their "inconsistency and unpredictability" when interpreting the new framework.

St Wulstan's was criticised for a series of weaknesses relating to safeguarding, teaching and management, including not properly supervising a dangerously congested car park outside the school gates.

The car park belongs to the parish, rather than the school, and is also used by churchgoers, people visiting a nearby pub and community centre, and families from a neighbouring school.

But Ofsted said it was the primary school's responsibility to ensure children's safety and just regularly reminding parents to park safely was not enough.

It also called for the school's central register to be updated, which shows vetting checks have been carried out on people working with pupils, and criticised the monitoring of other safety procedures.

Several St Wulstan's parents have now complained to the education watchdog, claiming the report was unfair.

Wolstanton councillor John Cooper, who sits on the county council's children and lifelong learning scrutiny committee, said the school "fell right under the trap".

He added: "They just didn't see what was coming at all."

Bill Dewar, head of Staffordshire's school improvement division, said: "The effect of the changes does impose a significant stress on our capacity across the county. We hope to prevent and anticipate problems.

"But in the first few months, the framework has caused quite significant ripples across the whole system. One of the things we can never insure against is the inconsistency and unpredictability of Ofsted inspectors."

The new framework means if a school receives a bad mark for pupil attainment, safeguarding, or equality issues, its overall rating cannot be better, even if it is performing well in all other areas.

Nationally, schools have reported being marked down for having public footpaths running through their grounds, leaving classroom doors open on warm days, not asking inspectors for proof they have been CRB checked, and for typing errors on staff registers.

They have also been warned they could be penalised for having low door handles because it increases the risk of children wandering out of school.

Ofsted has now passed on clearer guidance to inspectors to iron out some of the inconsistencies.

There are currently six Staffordshire schools that are either in special measures or have been served with a notice to improve.

Four of these were inspected before September.

The others are St Wulstan's and a primary school in Lichfield.

Ian Parry, pictured, the council's cabinet member for children and young people, said: "The new inspection framework will take time to bed in, and it will also take time for Ofsted inspectors to get to grips with the new criteria."