ANTI-ACADEMY campaigners fear county councillors are “steamrolling” through plans to turn Oxford School into an academy without considering other options.

Last night, Oxfordshire County Council agreed to a feasibility study to see if transforming the Glanville Road foundation school into an academy would be worthwhile.

It believes it is one way to improve standards at the 1,100 pupil school labelled a “National Challenge School” by the Government after it failed to meet nationally-set GCSE targets.

However, the Save Oxford School campaign group, made up of parents, governors and teaching representatives, said one academy in the city was enough and urged councillors to consider other options.

Campaign spokesman Anna Young, pictured above, said: “In summer 2009 Oxford School pupils achieved 35 per cent A* to C GCSEs including English and maths. This figure is higher than either Oxford Academy or North Oxfordshire Academy. This proves that the school is making a significant difference to the educational acheivement of children forecast not to do so well.

“The local authority has a duty to present all the options for the school to pupils, parents, teachers and the local community and not just steamroller one option, the academy, through.”

Michael Waine, the council’s cabinet member for schools improvement, said: “It is quite clear that standards of attainment must improve at this school. An academy is one possible way of achieving that, however, no final decision has been taken and a very full consultation will take place.”

Last week, the council scrapped plans to include the failing St Christopher’s Primary School in Temple Cowley Road in the scheme to create Oxford’s first all-age academy.

It still intends to build another primary school in Cowley and bring it under the umbrella of the new academy with Oxford School.

Picture: Antony Moore