The glamour of Oxford United is inspiring young people to develop their literacy and numeracy skills as part of a Government-backed scheme.

A total of 16 schools have sent students to United's Kassam Stadium to take part in the Playing for Success initiative, which uses sport to stimulate pupils' interest in schoolwork.

Playing for Success, which is sponsored by the Government and Oxfordshire County Council, allows children aged between nine and 13 to take advantage of the facilities at the stadium. The children can take part in a range of football-themed tasks, designed to boost their numeracy, literacy and Information Technology skills.

Half of the children taking part are drawn from the county, and half from the areas surrounding the stadium.

Playing for Success will run for at least four years, during which time the club expects to take 400 children each year.

Although part of the reason for setting up Playing for Success was to bridge the gender gap in achievement between girls and boys, 60 per cent of the children who attend the initiative in Oxford are girls.

Ed Duckham, study support centre manager at Oxford United, said: "The club is our resource. It's similar work to what the pupils would do at school but we try to make it as different as possible. Our motto is 'A Different Class'.

"It's the glamour of the place and the fact that everything's brand new that makes it work. There's a big 'Wow factor' about the stadium but the football is obviously also a draw."

The children take part in two-hour long sessions, once a week for 10 weeks, at the stadium.

They take part in exercises, which include interviewing players, devising Powerpoint presentations, measuring the pitch, compiling fantasy football scores, and using the stadium's network of computers to devise robot control programmes and edit videos.

The children who take part are invited to a presentation evening to celebrate their work.

Eluned Harries, head of Year 8 at Matthew Arnold School, in Cumnor, said she selected pupils who needed an extra push in literacy and numeracy and some who lacked motivation.

She added: "They had much more one-on-one tuition than they're used to. They were in a room overlooking the stadium with state-of-the-art computers in an atmosphere of mutual respect, which helped them develop a mature approach to their work. It was quite a commitment for pupils who weren't used to after-school clubs and I'm proud of how they handled it."