PUPILS at an Oxford school are having their fingerprints scanned to prove they are at school.

Cheney School, Headington, is testing a £20,000 biometric register and will advise other schools in the county about whether the system is any good.

While some parents have expressed concern about the move and say they were not consulted, headteacher Alan Lane has insisted it was not a sinister "big brother" move.

Councillor Claire Kent found out about the system from her children, who attend the school. She said: "They were told the data is not being shared with anyone else, but I don't believe that.

"I think it's wrong. We are getting very close to a police state with all the information the Government keeps on us."

One sixth form pupil, who did not want to be named, said: "I don't like the fact that they have my fingerprints on file. I don't know what they could do with it. The old register worked fine."

Although pupils can choose to have a PIN number, the 16-year-old said there were always large queues for the only two machines that took PINs.

Her mother was unhappy that she had heard nothing from the school.

She said: "It is something I would have liked to have been consulted on. What are they doing with the information? I'm very anxious that it doesn't get abused."

Mr Lane said parents were informed through the school's newsletter and letters to the parents of younger pupils.

He also promised there was no possibility of the information being misused.

He said: "There is no storage of the fingerprints. This is nothing to do with the police or a national fingerprint database."

Instead, a unique code, or "algorithm", is calculated from the fingertip and stored in a database. The algorithm is calculated, and checked against the database, each time a pupil presses their finger against one of 24 touchpads around the school.

Mr Lane said: "There is no way anyone can find out the fingerprint from the code."

Using a grant from the Government's Excellence In Cities programme, the school decided to install the system to cut down on inaccuracies and make pupils responsible for their own registration.

Mr Lane said accurate records were particularly important for sixth form students who receive the Government's Education Maintenance Grant, which is calculated on the basis of their attendance.

The biometric registration, which is being used by pupils in the three eldest years, is to be rolled out to the rest of the school's 1,500 pupils over the next six to 12 months.