Schools secretary Ed Balls today announced a special team of advisors will come to Gloucestershire to identify what needs to be done to improve progress in schools.

It was part of a raft of changes put forward by the minister which will also see report cards for pupils and teachers needing a licence.

According to the Department for Children, Schools and Familes the Your Child, Your Schools, Our Future White Paper, sets out statutory Pupil and Parent Guarantees underpinned by legislation, a clear devolution of power matched by stronger accountability and an uncompromising approach to school improvement so that every child can succeed.

Mr Balls said the exam results in Gloucestershire would be monitored.

"I am asking our expert advisers to work with Blackpool and Gloucestershire – areas that need to make more progress - to identify what more needs to be done to deliver National Challenge and report back to me on progress in September," he said.

"If this year’s exam results reveal serious weaknesses in these areas, or any area of the country, I will do whatever it takes to secure the progress of children and young people."

On the licence to teach, Mr Balls said: "Because a world-class schools system needs a world-class workforce, we are making teaching a Masters-level profession.

"And we will now introduce a new ‘licence to teach’ similar to that used by other high-status professionals like doctors and lawyers.

"Teachers will need to keep their practice up to date to renew their license – and they will be given a new entitlement for continued professional development.

"We will start with newly qualified teachers beginning their training this September, those returning to teaching from September 2010 and all supply teachers shortly afterwards."

The key proposals in Your Child; Your Schools; Our Future include:

Guaranteed one-on-one English and maths tuition for primary pupils starting Key Stage 2 below expectations and unlikely to make two levels of progress by 11;

Extra catch-up support for 11-year-olds who start secondary school below expectations or who have fallen behind, including one to one tuition and small group work;

Statutory proper choice of high quality learning routes at 14 – and guaranteed education or training at 16 and 17;

Specialist outside help for health and social problems;

A clear say on how their school is doing and how it can be improved;

A Personal Tutor at secondary school

Triple science GCSE for the highest achieving students

Support for identified gifted and talented learners; and

Five hours PE or sport a week in and out of school.

Clearer information about their child’s school performance

Closer involvement about their child’s progress through access to a named personal tutor or teacher, with regular face-to-face and secure, online information about child’s attainment, progress, SEN, behaviour and attendance in secondary schools by 2010 and primaries by 2012;

Access to Parent Support Advisers and other professionals to give them additional support and access to childcare, activities and health and other specialist services for their child.

Strengthened Home-School Agreements so all pupils and their families clearly understand school rules and their responsibilities, signing up to adhere to the rules when they choose schools. There will be agreements for the worst behaved children that make clear the particular expectations of their behaviour, to give them real force.

Introducing the Licence to Teach to boost the status of the profession. All qualified teachers and headteachers will have to demonstrate high standards of teaching and practice, coupled with ongoing professional development, to maintain their licence – or face losing it.

Introduce a new Year 7 'progress check' for children starting secondary school below expectations for their age in English and/or maths, alongside the guaranteed support, to make sure that all children get up to speed quickly.

Introduce new School Report Cards, which will not only include the information on school attainment which league tables are currently based on, but go well beyond it.

Parents empowered to influence the choice of secondary schools available in their local area – with local authorities having to plan for change if a significant number of parents are unhappy with local schools.

Schools given greater freedoms to lead their own improvement.

Governing bodies strengthened to hold heads and management to account.

New legislation to require Children’s Trusts to intervene early where children have health, social or education issues – with legislation to ensure that early years’ services work with schools or co-locate to give families the support they need, when they need it; and

Remove funding restrictions so schools can pool funding on extended services, joint facilities and collocated services on single sites to improve children’s lives across their areas – and challenging schools to invest the £1.9 billion national surplus in school budgets in partnerships and early intervention projects.