It has been a bad week for ambitious school projects in Oxford.

Yesterday, we reported that an Ofsted inspector had been highly critical of progress towards turning the troubled Peers School at Littlemore into the city's first academy.

Now there is a further setback with the news that the failing Rose Hill Primary School has lost its bid to become the first in Oxford to be given Fresh Start status.

Oxfordshire County Council's attempt to secure more than £5m so that the school can reopen with new buildings, new staff and a new name has been rejected by the Government.

Apparently, the school doesn't fit Whitehall criteria.

But we hope the council and the primary school will not give up the fight.

It is clear that the school desperately needs help and there must be other avenues that can be explored for Government cash.

Like the academy, the primary school must rise to the challenge.