Standards in English are not rising fast enough in primary or secondary schools, England's chief inspector of schools has said.

Head of Ofsted Christine Gilbert said too much teaching was "no better than satisfactory" and there was a big gap between the best schools and the rest.

But in its report Ofsted also said teaching in seven out of 10 English lessons was good or outstanding.

Teachers' leaders have accused the body of "moving the goalposts".

The NASUWT union said Ofsted was "part of the problem".

'Significant gap'

Ofsted's report, called "English at the crossroads", says that progress has been made in the past five years and standards have risen - but not fast enough.

Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector, said: "This report presents a challenge to schools. There is a significant gap between the most effective schools and the rest.

"The most effective provide a dynamic and productive English curriculum, responding to changes in society and pupils' literacy needs and leading to higher standards.

"However, too much English teaching is no better than satisfactory and too many pupils are not able to make the progress they then need to catch up."

The report, based on school visits and published statistics, notes that boys are lagging behind girls and that the gap is evident early on at school. Primary school standards in writing, it says, are lower than those for reading.