A+ for Northamptonshire's schools as Ofsted finds four out of five are either good or outstanding

Out of 313 schools in the county, 197 were rated as "good" and 53, or one in six, were awarded "outstanding" by inspectors.

Only 14 schools - less than five per cent of the county - were given the lowest rating of "inadequate", with four of them based in Northampton.

However, inspectors graded 50 schools in all, or one in six, as "requires improvement."

Opposition member for education Danielle Stone said: "It's always pleasing when schools are doing well as it is a result of good leadership, but I don't think this will be sustained.

"We are having difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers and good headteachers. We are also facing a funding squeeze and that is impacting our support staff. I think the academies system is crumbling and we will soon see more and more academy trusts losing funding."

The figures come after an FOI request by this newspaper to Northamptonshire County Council to present the ratings for all schools, secondary schools, special schools and colleges, in the county.

Councillor Matt Golby, Northamptonshire County Council's cabinet member for children’s services, said: “We congratulate schools on the hard work of all their staff, supported by their governing bodies, in achieving these results.

“No longer a direct provider of school improvement services, we are nonetheless totally committed to working with schools, with academy sponsors and with the department of education to raise standards.

“We recognise that there is still work to do to raise us about the national average and we will continue to work closely with those schools and Academy sponsors where extra support and assistance is needed.”