Education chiefs have claimed GCSE and A-level results across Oxfordshire are on an upward curve.

The latest exam statistics, released last night, showed 56.4 per cent of pupils across the county achieved five or more A*-C grades at GCSE - not including maths and English - an increase of two per cent on 2005 figures, but still below the national average for state schools (57 per cent).

But when maths and English were included in the figures just 47.3 per cent made the grade - albeit a significantly better percentage than the 43.8 per cent nationally.

Across the UK, statistics show that boys are lagging seven years behind girls in GCSE results, with success rates only this year reaching the levels set by girls in 1999.

One headteacher in Oxford welcomed the news, but said her pupils' all-round education meant more than just the bottom line of exam results.

Lorna Caldicott, headteacher of Peers Technology College in Littlemore, Oxford, said: "There is more that needs to be done. It's having a broad definition of what achievement is and having a range of strategies to tackle it.

"Education is about results but it is also about relationships with the community, working relationships and setting people up to be decent citizens.

"Children fulfilling their potential lays the foundations for economic success."

Provisional A-level results have also shown an improvement with the average point score per entry up on last year.

Individual A-level grades are awarded points with the average score this year standing at 78.9 - up from 77.1 in 2005.

County councillor Michael Waine, cabinet member for schools improvement and former headteacher of Glory Farm School in Bicester, said: "The overall picture is very promising and I am delighted that together our schools have improved on last year's performance.

"This is a reflection of all the hard work of students, teaching staff and the whole school community."

County Hall said it would also place a 'strong focus' on a formula designed to measure schools and students' performance with data other than exam results.

The authority is keen to make more use of data analysis produced by the Fischer Family Trust, which details how students should perform by taking into account their predicted grades with factors like gender, ethnicity, special educational needs, entitlement to free school meals and month of birth.

Mr Waine added: "We are keen to build on this, which is one of the reasons why we are placing a strong focus on Fischer Family Trust data, which gives a real insight into the progress pupils are making from one year to the next."