A damning Ofsted report said the standards at St John Fisher school were "exceptionally low" and deemed the school's leadership and management as inadequate.

The report, published today, was also highly critical of the Roman Catholic school's governing body and said the school, in Park Lane, Eastfield, "did not have the capacity to improve".

The scathing report said special measures were necessary at the school "because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education, and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement".

There are currently 744 pupils and 101 sixth formers at the school, which is currently temporarily based at the former Hereward Community College site, in Reeves Way, while refurbishments are carried out.

Sixty per cent of the school's intake is from ethnic minority communities.

Peterborough City Council is now seeking the consent of the Secretary of State for Education to disband the governing body, and a 14-day consultation with governors and the Roman Catholic diocese has now started.

In his report, Inspector Andrew Cook said although there were features of the school demonstrating the intention to meet the needs of its diverse cultural, ethnic and religious community, they were outweighed by the school's failure to ensure all pupils make progress in their studies and always feel supported in order to meet their individual needs.

He said their inadequate teaching in mathematics resulted in pupils making inadequate progress, and standards at the end of Year 9 and at GCSE level are well below the national average. He said although the quality of teaching varies, overall it is inadequate.

Mr Cook said: "A significant proportion of pupils make inadequate progress.