EDUCATION chiefs have expressed their disappointment that Oxfordshire continues to be below national averages for GCSEs.

Yesterday the Department for Education published official figures showing how well Oxfordshire pupils performed in this summer’s exams.

But questions have been raised over the validity of the data following controversy over a mid-year change in grade boundaries for English language papers.

Some 45,000 pupils are understood to be resitting all or part of their exams.

The proportion of children achieving five A* to Cs including English and maths in Oxfordshire dropped from 57.4 per cent to 57.2 per cent. Nationally, the figure remained static across all state schools at 58.4 per cent.

Melinda Tilley, county council cabinet member for education, said: “These statistics are disappointing although there is a lot of water to go under the bridge this year before we get final confirmed GCSE national averages and an Oxfordshire total.

“As we said last year, Oxfordshire should not be below the national average, it should be comfortably above it.”

But Mrs Tilley said it would not be until the New Year that the “full and final” comparison of how well Oxfordshire’s schools had performed would be clear.

Gawain Little, of the Oxfordshire National Union of Teachers said it was “absurd” to publish statistics at this time without a re-mark.