Nearly half of “outstanding” schools – which were previously exempt from inspections – have been downgraded by Ofsted this term.

But two south Essex schools, Hockley Primary and West Leigh Junior School, have retained their top grades.

Earlier this month West Leigh rated ‘outstanding’ 15 years since it was last inspected.

“It’s been an unbelievably long wait of 15 years since our last inspection,” said West Leigh headteacher Cheryl Woold.

"We are so proud that Ofsted have confirmed we have maintained and built upon everything that makes West Leigh so special.”

Hockley Primary school scored top marks in a report published last month.

David Jenkins, head of academy, said: “We are so proud of this Ofsted report.

“To receive an Outstanding is a testament to the hard work to our staff to ensure that we are providing the best possible education for our pupils.”

Ofsted is inspecting schools previously judged as outstanding which are no longer exempt from visits following concerns that hundreds of schools given the top rating have not been inspected for years.

The Ofsted data shows that, during the three months up to the end of November, 47 per cent of schools previously judged as outstanding have been stripped of their top rating following inspections this term.

More than half of the 99 schools visited between September 1 and November 30 this year – which were previously rated as outstanding – had not been inspected for more than 10 years, Ofsted has said.

In October last year, the Department for Education (DfE) backed removing the exemption from inspection for outstanding schools and colleges, which was first introduced in 2012.

The watchdog has been prioritising inspections of previously exempt schools that have gone the longest without an assessment.

Last week, the DfE announced that Ofsted inspections will not go ahead this week to ensure schools can plan for Omicron contingency measures.

But both the National Education Union and NASUWT teaching union have called for Ofsted inspections to be paused until after the February half-term as schools deal with rising coronavirus cases in their communities.