Bradford Council always had a lot to prove when it took over the running of the district’s education provision two years ago.

Back in 2001 the state of education in Bradford was so dire that the Government made the unusual move to remove it from local authority control and place it in the hands of a private provider, Serco.

Education came back into the fold in 2011 at the end of the decade-long contract which was run under the auspices of Education Bradford. The local authority knew that they were going to have to paint a positive picture of success if they were going to lay the ghosts of the pre-Serco administration to rest.

If the results of the cumulative inspections by the education watchdog Ofsted over the past two years are anything to go by, then it seems that Bradford Council is indeed making good on its promise to improve the situation.

According to the latest round-up, 80 per cent of youngsters are being taught in schools which have been given a “good” or better rating by the Ofsted inspectors.

That is indeed heartening, and shows that things are moving in the right direction. As ever with these things, though, there is always room for improvement, and the Council must continue to drive up standards in our schools.

Raw statistics are all well and good but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and across the board achievements in literacy and maths must be brought up to or even beyond the national average when children transition from primary schools to secondary schools.

Our children must be given the best education – and therefore as many options as possible in later life – as they can, and nothing less will do.