ALMOST 90 per cent of secondary school age students in Oxfordshire are attending good or outstanding schools.

But Ofsted’s annual report, which was released yesterday, shows that a lower proportion of primary school children are attending similarly graded schools – 73 per cent.

Didcot Girls’ School was singled out in the report for improving the academic performance of some students through its use of funding to provide tuition in small groups.

Overall, though, Matthew Coffey, Ofsted’s South East director, said that poor children in the region are being let down.

He said: “The proportion of schools and colleges that are good or better in the South East has risen, in some cases dramatically, in 2012/13. “Over 110,000 more pupils are being educated in good and outstanding primary and secondary schools compared with just one year ago.

“Secondary schools in the South East are performing well overall, maintaining and building on the strong attainment and inspection outcomes of previous years. Further education (FE) colleges have also improved, from a poor position, to just one per cent below the national figure for good and outstanding colleges.

“However, the proportion of good and outstanding primary schools remains below the proportion in England as a whole.

“The standard of education provided to children from poorer backgrounds in primary and secondary schools is of grave concern.

“To put it bluntly, too many poor children are being let down in the South East.”