Specialist schools have an area of excellence

Chipping Norton School has become the first school in the county to gain the award in the performing arts, while Wallingford School has become the fourth to receive the same award in sports.

Specialist schools have an area of excellence, such as science, sport or the arts, and they receive extra funding.

Both schools have raised �50,000 as part of their bid for the awards, and will now have that figure matched by the government.

'Share their benefits'

The drive for more specialist schools has been part of the government's plan for a more diverse secondary school system - with a range of different types of schools.

Councillor Tony Crabbe, Oxfordshire County Council's executive member for schools, said he was sure the schools would share their benefits with the local community.

He said: "This is terrific news and well done to the two schools who have put so much hard work in to gaining this much sought after status.

"I look forward to watching their progress."

A total of 18 other schools in Oxfordshire have specialist school status, in subjects including: media arts, languages, sports, technology, engineering, maths and computing and science.