John Howson, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in north Oxfordshire in 2015 and 2017, explores the state of education in Bicester.

On the face of it, the standard of education across Bicester seems good; as I write this column, both of the secondary schools in Bicester are rated as ‘good’ schools by Ofsted, the government’s education inspection arm.

Ofsted also rates most of the town’s primary schools as ‘good’. So far, there is no rating for the new Technical Studio School that opened in 2016.

Do these ratings mean that parents should be happy? I think not. As a Liberal Democrat, education is important to my Party and Layla Moran, our MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, is the Party’s spokesperson for education in parliament.

Liberal Democrats know that there are always choices to be made with public funds. For instance, politicians must choose between better funding for early years provision or paying off all students loans (as suggested by Labour). I favour better funding for early years provision, as it benefits more children.

If you dig a little deeper behind the Ofsted grades for Bicester’s schools, then there are areas for concern as many schools have only average performances.

How far are these average and in some cases below average outcomes for children in Bicester’s schools down to a lack of funding? Oxfordshire, as a whole, has long been a poorly funded local authority. An analysis of Department for Education data on school expenditure shows many Bicester primary schools are spending more than their income from government.

I cannot see the government’s much heralded new National Funding Formula for Schools helping local school much, especially since it will not provide enough extra cash, at least up to 2020, to offset the effects of inflation and the probability that the public sector wage freeze will end sometime in 2018.

Whatever the reasons for the current levels of performance across Bicester’s schools, the onus is now largely with schools to do something about improving standards.

As the town’s secondary schools are academies, unelected Regional School Commissioners are, in theory at least, in charge of their destiny through remote head teacher boards with little or no knowledge of the schools. At least the majority of primary schools still have closer links with the county council but, these days, there is little funding to provide for school improvement.

Bicester is a growing town and that means more pupils in future years. Fortunately, it means the possibility of new schools, but it also means the need to recruit more teachers. That is a problem.

Commute from Bicester Village station to Wembley in an hour and you can earn £8,000 more as a classroom teacher: more than enough to pay for an annual season ticket and enjoy the better lifestyle Bicester affords its residents.

Bicester schools need to be able to recruit good teachers, since without them our schools will not make progress. That is a real challenge for politicians.