GCSE league tables: 150,000 pupils in failing schools Just over a third of teenagers sat exams in subjects covered by the "English Baccalaureate," which measures performance in English, maths, science, foreign languages and history or geography. This compares with less than a quarter a year earlier. But the move towards "tougher" disciplines is likely to have dragged some schools below minimum targets for 16-year-old demanded by the Coalition - putting them at risk of take-over. It is likely to place the Government on a fresh collision course with local authorities after Barking and Dagenham Council successfully gained an injunction this week preventing ministers turning a failing comprehensive into an academy. But Department for Education said that academy status was found to have improved results across the country. Heath Monk, chief executive of Future Leaders, a charity set up to train heads, said: "Schools that are underperforming should be held accountable. It is right to shine a spotlight on schools that aren't improving fast enough because children only get one chance at their education. Under Coalition reforms, all state schools in England have been told to ensure that at least 40 per cent of pupils gain five A* to C grades at GCSE, including the core subjects of English and maths - the second year that the target has been set at this level. They must also satisfy separate targets relating to the amount of progress made by children in the three-Rs between the age of 11 and 16. In 2012, some 215 secondary schools fell below the floor target, although 20 had already been closed and converted into academies led by a private sponsor. Some 180 schools are believed to still languish below the floor target by the end of the last academic year in sumer 2013 - the results covered in next week's league tables. Figures will also show that around 100,000 children - six-in-10 - who were considered among the brightest pupils at the age of 11 failed to go on to gain good GCSEs in a wide range of academic subjects five years later. Separate data relating to A-level performance is also likely to reveal that around a quarter of schools with post-16 pupils are failing to encourage any teenagers towards top A-level grades in subjects seen as a stepping stone to leading universities.