Oxford's middle schools are on course to be abolished as councillors agreed to grasp the nettle over the 10m gap in funding for the project.

The Government is not likely to decide whether to give the county council more cash for the change from three tiers to two until the middle of next month.

But county councillors decided to agree a package of measures backing the planned revolution in the city's education system, rather than changing course at this late stage.

Such action, they believed, would only cause further disruption in the city's educational system and affect teachers' morale, which was now improving in the belief that something positive was now being done to improve standards.

The potential gap in the budget was discovered after schools put in their 'wish lists' of work they wanted to see done to buildings in preparation for the switch. Oxford City Council also said 30 per cent of any land sold should be used for social housing, therefore decreasing the vaue of land to potential developers.

Cllr Keith Mitchell (Con), said: "It is clearly a huge challenge, primarily abour raising standards.

"This group remains convinced it is the right move, but that the education system is having to contribute to the city's housing policy is something that I find hard to swallow."