STAFF and pupils at a Didcot secondary school have been praised by Government inspectors.

St Birinus School, in Mereland Road, received a glowing report from Ofsted for its continuous improvement, partnerships with other schools and links with industry.

It was rated as a 'good' school in all areas, with some outstanding features.

St Birinus is the only single-sex boys school in Oxfordshire outside the private sector and is one of only two schools in the county to be granted two specialisms technology and languages.

Inspectors praised the way the school had used the extra funding to recruit extra staff and reduce class sizes.

The school's sixth form, run jointly with Didcot Girls' School, was also praised for high standards of achievement compared with similar schools.

Headteacher Chris Bryan said the report was a tribute to everyone associated with the school.

He said: "The Ofsted inspectors recognised that most pupils who come to the school make better progress than would normally be expected."

He said everyone associated with that success had been mentioned in the report, including pupils, staff, management, governors, partner schools and the business community.

The inspectors reported that further improvements could be made by making consistent use of data to provide all pupils with more challenging targets, and by extending the programme of monitoring teaching and learning.