Education chiefs have recommended a “consistently inadequate” Tottenham school be closed – the first time in more than 20 years that such a decision has been made in Haringey.

Officers have recommended John Loughborough School –which had the worst GCSE results in the borough this year – be closed after a report dismissed all other options to help improve it.

The Holcombe Road school, owned and operated by the South England Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (SEC) but maintained by the local authority, has been working with a consultant headteacher from Chingford Foundation School since it was put into special measures by Ofsted in December.

But while it is showing slight signs of improvement, just 35 per cent of students got five A*-C grades, including English and maths – 25 per cent lower than the borough’s average.

The decision on whether to go ahead with the closure will be made by cabinet members on Tuesday.

If they agree with the report’s recommendations, a consultation period will begin with parents, carers, pupils and staff members.

The only way the school would then avoid being closed would be if the SEC managed to find a Department for Education-approved sponsor to take it on as an academy.

The SEC will look for a sponsor in parallel with the consultation on closure.

A council spokesman said: “The council’s priority is to act in the best interests of all students at the school and to make sure that they are getting the very best from their education.”

Julie Davies, the secretary of Haringey’s National Union of Teachers, added: “There are some really good teachers who have been doing a really good job in trying circumstances. We will be supporting them during this very worrying time.”