The music service run by the county's education department has been praised following a Government inspection.

Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, carried out the inspection during the summer term.

The main findings were that:

**The Oxfordshire County Music Service is a very good music service which has made very effective use of Government grant to protect and expand provision

**Tuition given by the team of full and part-time tutors is very good overall and never less than satisfactory

**Pupils reach good standards in lessons and very good standards in the majority of ensembles.

The report also said: "OCMS is large, complex, successful, strong and well-established.

"It has very good leadership and management and enjoys the confidence and support of the schools it serves.

"The Standards Fund grant is being used very effectively to protect and expand the provision and the service is well placed to continue to make a significant contribution to the education of its pupils and to the work of schools."

Throughout the year, various orchestras, which are part of the OCMS, give concerts at a number of venues.

The youth orchestra is still looking for sponsors to support its tour for 2002, when its visits Canada.

Graham Badman, the county's chief education officer, said: "The music service has long been regarded as one of the jewels in the crown and this report confirms that view."

There are 150 staff working for the music service, including 100 teachers, who visit schools to support the heads of music in schools.

The music service also employs music therapy teachers and classroom advisory teachers.

Rachel Montgomery, administration officer for the music service, said: "Schools in Oxfordshire take music very seriously and we have a number of teachers applying for jobs from surrounding counties. We hope that is because of our reputation."