THERE has been an increase in the number of "good" and "outstanding" schools in Hampshire, according to an annual report published by Ofsted.

The education watchdog has launched its report for 2014/15, which shows the national picture of the performance of schools, colleges and further education and skills providers in England.

The main findings for the South East show that attainment of children in early years rose sharply this year, with seven in 10 young children reaching a good level of development by the end of reception, making the area the highest performing region in the country.

In Hampshire, a total of 84 per cent of primary school children are in a "good" or "outstanding" school, which represents a two per cent increase on the previous year.

For Hampshire secondary school pupils - 82 per cent are being taught in a "good" or "outstanding" school, which is a seven per cent increase on 2014.

The Hurst Community College, in Baughurst, was highlighted in the report as a case study, after it was inspected in May this year and graded as "good" following a "requires improvement" rating at its previous inspection.

The report said: "Hurst Community College is a secondary school with a below-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils. When the school was inspected in May 2013, disadvantaged pupils were making less progress than others: the gap between their attainment and others was widening. School leaders made decisive responses based on high levels of accountability for staff and support for pupils.

"A thorough review of the use of additional government funding for poorer pupils gauged the success of interventions by the impact of outcomes for pupils. Nothing was left to chance.

"School leaders steered future planning based on what worked. A determined focus on the progress of disadvantaged pupils led to improved achievement by this group, and by all pupils. This is a school where, in the past, disadvantaged pupils had been underachieving, but where this had been masked by the fact that they were a relatively small percentage of each class, so this was not identified. Now the school pulls all this information together to check that it does well by these pupils, wherever they are."

Dove House School Academy, in Sutton Road, Basingstoke, and Hook Infant School, in Hook, are listed as two of 13 schools in Hampshire to have been graded as "outstanding" by Ofsted.

They join a group of more than 80 in the South East given the top rating.

Sir Robin Bosher, South East regional director, said: "Overall, the South East region does well by its young people and gets the majority off to a strong start. We have seen some pleasing improvements in performance this year at all ages."