An Oxford-based literacy project is celebrating its fifth anniversary and teaching its 1,000th pupil. Reading Quest started with six pupils at one school and now has six specially-trained tutors working in 22 schools throughout the city.

Tutors work on a one-to-one basis with children who are not reaching their full potential at reading.

They devote an intensive, highly-structured half hour ro reading, writing and letter sounds.

The project started at Bayswater Middle School at Headington, when the staff and governors decided to target literacy because they felt that pupils who lacked reading skills were being denied the basic tools to understand the curriculum.

It was funded initially by a Government grant to revitalise Barton, known as the Single Regeneration Budget.

Now it is to expand to take on three more teachers thanks to a similar grant aimed at east Oxford. Oxford University research on the project has just reached its conclusions.

It found that a six-week course of intensive individual teaching for seven year-olds results in under-achieving pupils not only reaching their average reading ages within 12 months, but overtaking them.

The research was carried out on a cross-section of Reading Quest pupils made up of an equal number of boys and girls.

The scheme was set up by Penny Tyack, a former teacher who researched the best way to give pupils individual tuition for a masters degree at Oxford Brookes University.

She says: "Some pupils find starting school very confusing. I know there had to be a way to replace that confusion with a self belief and to show them that they could cope with school work."

Five years ago, she had a vision of helping children improve their literacy skills at home and at school.

She adds: "I was convinced it would work, but I didn't think it would be this remarkable. We have made a positive difference to the lives of 1,000 children and we are now looking forward to the next 1,000."