There had been “early indications of slight improvements” this year, but “outcomes for learners were weak”.

Education convener Kevin Keenan said the inspectors had identified areas for improvement “and the fact that we are already addressing these with practical solutions”.

The last major inspection was in 2001.

The new report praises attempts to improve attainment, but says the city council faces “significant challenges”, including high levels of deprivation.

At secondary schools, the inspectors said arts and music, along with enterprise education, were strong.

But across most Scottish Qualifications Authority measures, exam results for pupils “had shown little improvement between 2003 and 2005 ... One in six pupils left school without basic qualifications in English and maths”.

The report went on, “On most key measures the authority’s figures were below the average of comparator authorities and the gap has increased slightly.

“There were some early indications of slight improvements in some measures in 2006. Overall, outcomes for learners were weak.”

The inspectors noted at the time time of inspection that Dundee’s population was falling and 28% of people lived in areas classed as being among the most deprived in Scotland.

“Tackling the effects of socio-economic deprivation remains a key challenge for the council in discharging its education functions,” they said.

The inspectors looked at all aspects of attainment by pupils and what schools and other education-related bodies were doing to support them.

They found much to praise, but also expressed serious concerns.

“The quality of outcomes achieved by learners in Dundee and improvements in their performance varied considerably across different sectors and age groups and was weak overall, though improving.

“Outcomes in some aspects were good or very good. However, performance on some key indicators, such as the number of pupils leaving school without basic levels of attainment in English and maths, was weak.

“The impact of local authority work on the experience of learners also varied and was adequate overall and improving.”

The quality of nursery education was praised, with the inspectors saying the impact of council work in pre-school contexts was very good.

At primary school level, most pupils were reaching the appropriate standards in reading and maths, although writing was lagging a little. Between 2002 and this year, attainment in reading was up 2%, Overall, outcomes for pupils had more strengths than weaknesses and were judged “adequate”.

The council’s key strategy for improving attainment is called Learning Together in Dundee. The inspectors said this was starting to have a positive impact on pupils’ attitudes and the quality of their experience at primary school.

Pupils were asked their opinions and most said they enjoyed being at school and felt their teachers expected them to work as hard as they could.

But many felt there were behaviour problems, and the inspectors noted the number of pupils being temporarily excluded had risen considerably.

One a more positive note, more Dundee pupils went on to college or university than in similar local authorities and there was a big drop in the number of ex-pupils who ended up as NEETS — those not in education, employment or training.

The inspectors said, “Strengths just outweighed weaknesses in the authority’s impact on learners in secondary schools. The quality of the curriculum and the quality of teaching were good or very good in most schools inspected. The quality of learning was less good.

“The number of exclusions had increased significantly, although the length of individual exclusions has reduced. Indiscipline continued to affect the overall quality of learning.”

Less than half (49%) of pupils reached appropriate national levels of attainment in maths by the end of second year, with 47% doing so in writing and 58% in reading. Since 2002 there had been an 8% improvement in maths and 4% in reading, but writing was down by 2%.

Overall performance in national qualifications between 2001 and 2005 was variable and had decreased in 11 out of 15 indicators, although some of those falls were slight.

Exam data for 2006 showed improvements of between 1% and 2% in exam performance, which the inspectors said “gave some room for optimism that recent strategies were beginning to have an impact and that performances may have begun to show an improving trend”.

The results of the inspection will be discussed at a meeting of the education committee next week. Councillors will be asked to instruct education director Anne Wilson to continue putting the action plan into effect.