Parents of children with special needs are celebrating after winning a four-year battle to get post-16 education in Oxfordshire's special schools.

Until now, it was the only county in England without post-16 special needs education with teenagers being sent to schools outside the county or be integrated into mainstream colleges.

However, that is set to change from September, after the county council decided on Wednesday that nine special schools would in future offer post-16 classes.

At present, about 90 per cent of over-16s with special needs go to further education colleges, including Oxford and Cherwell Valley College, while the rest attend special schools as far afield as Reading, Milton Keynes and Newbury.

More than 200 parents joined Choice, a group which campaigned to get a sixth form-style of post-16 education at the county's special schools.

Mandy Maryan, from Wantage, a member of Choice's committee, said: "We have done it, thank goodness.

"This has been desperately needed. We were about 20 years behind the rest of the country, so we're delighted the council has agreed to this.

"Before this decision, most children were going to college. Some parents who felt capable of fighting the council would try to get their child to go to a special needs school outside the county, but that was a big battle to take on.

"Quite a few young people with moderate learning difficulties dropped out of college courses, because they found it difficult to cope.

"Some pupils do very well there, but it was a bit of a lottery and colleges would admit they weren't always able to deal with the complex needs of these teenagers."

Consultation found 97 per cent of parents with children at special schools were in favour of the change, along with 89 per cent of parents of college students.

Mrs Maryan's son Tom, who is 15, has been attending Fitzwaryn School in Wantage since he was two.

Mrs Maryan said: "There's no way Tom could have gone into a college environment. It would have had a horrific effect on him.

"Teenagers like Tom are emotionally very immature and he's not ready to go from a school of 60 to a college with 1,000 people.

"Now he has the opportunity to learn basic life skills before he goes to college.

"These extra two or three years will make a massive difference for him and means he will go to college when he's emotionally able to go, not because the LEA says he has to."

Jenny Hellyer's 16-year-old daughter, Emma, has Down's Syndrome and would have had to attend a mainstream college in September.

Now she can stay at Iffley Mead School, in Oxford.

Mrs Hellyer, from Grandpont, said: "If this decision hadn't been made, Emma would have been going to college in September, which is fine for some children, but for someone as vulnerable as Emma isn't suitable.

"She is particularly vulnerable with strangers and the number of people at college would have been overwhelming.

"We hope Emma will become semi- independent, but she's going to take longer and she needs specialist help from those who understand her needs."

The council estimates the move will cost £590,000 in 2008-9 with a £1.3m one-off grant from the Learning and Skills Council to help fund it in following years.

It is also set to spend about £4m in special schools over the next four years, including £2m on Fitzwaryn school in Wantage.

From September, the following special schools will offer post-16 education: Bardwell, Bicester; Frank Wise, Banbury; John Watson, Wheatley; Kingfisher, Abingdon; Fitzwaryn, Wantage; Iffley Mead, Mabel Pritchard and Northfield, Oxford; and Woodeaton Manor.

Springfield School, in Witney, may be added to the list.