Sir - There was a certain irony in the juxtaposition of your lead story (February 1), in which you reported Oxfordshire's new education chief as saying that some headteachers are 'in denial', with the tone of your two correspondents, Messrs. Lane and Waine (why is that combination of names immediately redolent of American 'Westerns'!), who argue that, if non-maths and English GCSEs of the requisite grade are included, the performance of Oxford schools is actually improving.

I think many parents - and most employers - would categorise any child who does not achieve at least a 'C' grade in those two key disciplines as, at best, semi-literate.

While I fully recognise the magnitude of the challenge they face, it is surely not the purpose of schools to take comfort from such a deficiency in their pupils.

If your two correspondents wish to prove their point they should be referencing previous years to cite the number of pupils who did include maths and English among their GCSEs, as a proportion of the total number sitting the examination each year, and comparing that with the equivalent 2007 figure. Perhaps it would prove their point, I am not sufficiently familiar with the numbers, but the fact that they did not choose to do so does rather suggest that they, also, are 'in denial'.

Tony Buley, Oxford