Muslim leaders have lobbied for a dedicated religious school in Oxford to improve their children's academic performance.

A panel of members of Oxfordshire County Council is consulting the religious and educational communities on the needs of faith schools in the county.

The panel, called the faith schools review, was partly set up to hear the concerns of Oxford's Muslim community, which claims Muslim children suffer academically in normal state schools.

The review heard last week from Idris Mears, director of the Association of Muslim Schools, who said young Muslims often had an identity crisis and felt insecure about their place in society.

He said an Islamic education was the best way to address those problems.

"Muslim schools build confident young people able to negotiate anything," he said.

"Muslim schools are the ideal environment to give a strong sense of identity and are a strong catalyst for the Muslim community to find its place, but not at the price of assimilation."

Mr Mears said if a Muslim school was created in Oxford, there would be sufficient demand to fill it.

Three review meetings are being held, the last taking place next Friday.

Andrew Brown, the councillor leading the review, said: "The aim is to produce information for the council that will inform future decision making."