The report said prospects for improvement were good

The inspectorate identified weaknesses in performance management and the role played by elected councillors in Anglesey's schools.

The council's ruling executive will consider Estyn's report next week.

But it said Estyn had praised its "clear commitment to reorganising" schools and that the prospects for improvement were good.

Two weeks ago Estyn was highly critical of the schools service in another north Wales authority, Denbighshire.

The latest Estyn report found that Anglesey had been too slow to identify and tackle "significant emerging problems in its education sector".

It highlighted the growth in the number of surplus places in schools, overspending on the special needs budget and the rising numbers of exclusions in the island's secondary schools.

It acknowledges the authority has already agreed to changes to its committee structure, but says that, in the past, there has been a lack of clarity about the respective roles of the overview and scrutiny committees.

The report said three key areas needed urgent improvement:

The watchdog said the prospects for improvement were good with no major barriers, and that the authority's "good features outweigh shortcomings".

However, it still criticised the body for taking too long in addressing the reorganisation of school services, and said it "does not have a good track record in this area".

Estyn said that after a period of instability "the political leadership within the authority is now more stable".

This provided better prospects that decisions will be taken for the benefit of the education service as a whole across Anglesey, rather than on a ward basis, it said.

Education director Richard Parry Jones said: "This is a good report for the education service, our staff and teachers, and there are many positives which we'll be able to take from it."

"The inspectors have recognised that the county is working hard to develop a more effective and efficient schools system here on Anglesey."