OXFORD is no longer at the bottom of the pile when it comes to how the youngest children perform in school.

Results published today show that the proportion of Oxford schoolchildren achieving expected levels in reading and in writing at age seven jumped by five percentage points compared to the previous year.

In 2010, the city was the worst district in the country in all subjects at Key Stage 1, and last year it remained bottom for writing, although there were improvements in reading, maths and science.

Today's results show that there are now 12 authorities which perform worse in reading and five in writing, while it was fifth bottom in maths and 21st from the bottom in science.

Oxfordshire as a whole saw the proportion of children achieving expected levels in reading rise by two percentage points to 88 per cent achieving the benchmark Level 2, with a three percentage point jump to 83 per cent in those making the grade in writing.

There was also a rise in maths, from 90 to 91 per cent of children getting a level 2 or higher, while science remained the same as 2011 at 91 per cent.

Oxfordshire County Council , the National Literacy Trust and the Oxford Mail are currently running a campaign to increase the number of children achieving the higher Level 2b.

Teacher assessments from this summer showed that the proportion of Oxfordshire children achieving the higher level rose from 74 per cent in 2011 to 78 per cent this year.