AS hit squads of consultants are sent into three Blackburn with Darwen high schools with the worst GCSE results, it is clear that though their performance may be 'satisfactory,' the borough's much-praised education authority sets a higher standard.

It is a yardstick that parents will approve of - above all, when their children's years at school are a once-in-a-lifetime experience that should offer the fullest opportunity to each one.

That something less than that has been available at the three schools targeted for the £300,000 project to send in specialists is evident from their GCSE performances being the poorest in Blackburn with Darwen and among the worst in the country.

But alarm bells clearly sounded when last month's school league tables showed each of the three had a fall in the number of pupils getting five or more GCSEs at grades A to C while every other school in the borough had an increase.

Education chiefs have responded promptly and correctly to the situation and they are right to consider that, while the schools' achieving the floor target of a quarter of pupils getting five upper-grade GCSEs may be classed as satisfactory, improvement is needed and can be achieved.

And if troubleshooters are needed to replace mediocrity with a quest for excellence, so be it.