HARD-pressed Worcestershire schools will have an extra £12.3m next year - an inflation-busting 6.1 per cent increase.

But the rise is still below average 6.5 per cent for other shire counties.

When inflation and last year's one-off £1.35m payment are taken into account, the "real terms" boost is about £6.3m.

The figures - a dramatic improvement on last year, when the increase was just 3.7 per cent, compared with 5 per cent nationally - provoked a mixed reaction today.

Worcester MP Mike Foster said the true picture would not emerge until the level of funding per pupil had been calculated.

"The increase of 6.1 per cent is the highest the county's ever received from any Government. This is significant," he said.

"There have been disagreements over the different approaches made by those campaigning for a fairer deal that could have been avoided.

"But what should unite us all is to now use this money to drive up standards in our schools."

But Worcestershire Headteachers Forum chairman Cledwyn-Davies said that, while analysis of the figures was continuing, they did not look as impressive as first thought, and the county needed £10m extra to fund education properly.

"When you take out the £1.35m extra from last year, it's only a 5.4 per cent rise in reality," he said. "To me, if the shire average is 6.5 per cent and we've got 5.4 per cent, the gap is expanding not narrowing."

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff said: "The gap between us and other authorities has still widened - but by much less than in recent years.

However he welcomed the extra cash, adding: "This is not a world-changing event, but it is certainly a useful increase."

n Cont on P4 League Tables: P4 & 5

From P1 / n Yesterday's announcement follows an intensive lobbying campaign, which has split local MPs and led to the county's headteachers threatening legal action.

Senior Government figures said it was the best deal Worcestershire could have hoped for under the existing "unfair" funding formula, due to be replaced next year.

"Worcestershire should feel very, very pleased with what it has got," said Local Government Minister Nick Raynsford.

The county's Labour MPs delivered 4,000 letters to Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers calling for Worcestershire to receive a better settlement than last year.

Opposition MPs held a separate meeting with headteachers and Dr Alan Whitehead, one of Mr Byers's deputies.

Worcestershire director of education Julien Kramer paid tribute to the hard work of both headteachers and MPs of all parties in trying to win a better settlement.

But he added that it was too early to say yet whether yesterday's announcement was good or bad news. County councillors were due to discuss the figures at a meeting this morning.