CHILDREN'S school performance has been described as "poor" by a politician - who is calling for Worcestershire County Council to be challenged over it.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Tom Wells, a teacher by trade, has hit out at Key Stage 2 Sats results, saying the county is "struggling to compete" with similar areas.

He has also taken issue with Councillor Simon Geraghty, the leader at County Hall, insisting he is wrong to describe results in Worcestershire as "pretty good".

Bosses at the authority have hit back by pointing to nine out of 10 schools in Worcestershire being rated 'good' or 'outstanding' by Ofsted, and say results at 16 show pupils are managing to catch up.

This year only 47 per cent of 10 and 11-year-olds in Worcestershire left primary school at the expected standard, as we revealed in August.

Cllr Wells made his remarks during a County Hall meeting to debate the new five-year plan called 'Shaping Worcestershire's Future'.

"To describe our education results in Worcestershire as 'pretty good' is papering over thing, at best," he said.

"To be honest, right back to the days when George Lord was leader of this council he'd turn up at these meetings with reports saying 'things are great' with our schools.

"But if you delve deeper and look at the figures, look at things like Maths and languages, we are struggling to compete with other shires in a range of indices.

"The Key Stage 2 results are poor, and that's also of a great concern to many of us."

During a heated row with the leader he accused the council of being complacent and asked him if he wanted to "retract his comments" over schools being 'pretty good'.

Cllr Geraghty said: "If you're asking me, am I ashamed of the educational results in this county, no I am not."

Cllr Wells said he "profoundly disagreed" with him, calling school performance "poor" against the national average.

Clare Marchant, the chief executive, admitted there was work to do on Key Stage 2 Sats but insisted all the evidence is that pupils catch up by Key Stage 4 and beyond.

"We should not take for granted that nine out of 10 schools are good or outstanding - and by Key Stage 4 that 'dip' is right back up there," she said.

"If you do start to take that for granted, and it changes, we'll end up saying 'how did that happen'."

Cllr Geraghty added: "Absolutely, we would not want to sound complacent - the number one thing in this plan is about making sure people achieve the right educational outcomes."

He said Key Stage 2 results "are not where we want them to be" but insisted improvement was "front and centre" of the plan.

WE ARE INTENT ON GETTING BETTER, SAYS COUNCIL

After the meeting the council released a statement saying “fantastic things” are happening in county schools.

In the name of Councillor Marc Bayliss, the cabinet member for children and families, it said: “We have some fantastic schools here in Worcestershire and it is one of our priorities to ensure that schools continue to offer great outcomes for pupils.

"Nine in 10 schools in Worcestershire are currently rated good or outstanding by Ofsted.

"We are pleased with the improvement in 'A' level results this year, and that once again our GCSE results are above national figures and those of our statistical neighbours.

"We were naturally disappointed with the Key Stage 2 results for this year but we have already started working with schools in the county to ensure that all pupils attain the best possible outcomes.

"In October 2015 our school improvement services were commissioned to Babcock Prime, and we are working closely with Babcock to finalise and implement an improvement plan.

"We have already, for example, had input to schools by our senior regional Ofsted inspector with a focus on Key Stage 2 performance and how schools can raise attainment, particularly for vulnerable learners."