More schools in the county have been awarded top-class ratings by Government inspectors than ever before.

An increased number of primary and secondary schools have been judged good or outstanding.

Latest figures show Ofsted inspectors deemed 42 of the county's 285 schools outstanding compared with just nine three years ago.

The number of good schools has risen to 154 compared to 121 in the same period.

Councillor Ivan Ould, Leicestershire's education spokesman, said: "To have almost 200 schools in Leicestershire rated as good or outstanding is a magnificent achievement.

"We've worked tremendously hard with schools to help improve standards and I'm delighted Ofsted recognises the high quality education provided for young people in the county.

"Our next target is for even more Leicestershire schools to be rated in the top two categories so we can break through the 200 barrier.

"The fact we're the poorest funded local authority in the country makes these achievements all the more significant.

"Our head teachers, teachers, school support staff, and school governors achieve more with less than any other local authority, and these results are a huge credit to the drive for excellence in all Leicestershire schools."

The most recent schools in Leicestershire to be rated outstanding are Kibworth High School, The Garendon High School, Leysland High School and South Wigston High School.

Kibworth's inspection report, released just seven days ago, praised the school's strong leadership and the good-humoured relationship between teachers and pupils.

Gareth Williams, director of the county council's children and young people's service, said: "The local authority has supported and challenged schools to improve over the last three years very effectively. "We're continuing to improve standards even further."

Only two schools in Leicestershire are in special measures, Burleigh Community College and the Blaby Centre, compared to 21 three years ago.

Donisthorpe Primary and Thorpe Acre Junior, have been given notices to improve. The rest have been judged satisfactory.

Absence rates have also improved slightly in the county's secondaries with a 4.5 per cent rate classed as persistently absent in 2009-10, an improvement of 0.48 per cent compared to the previous year.

Persistently absent pupils are those who miss more than a fifth of sessions.

In the last academic year, permanent exclusions have also dropped dramatically in the sector. In 2008-9, there were 70 from Leicestershire's secondary schools, compared to 27 in 2009-10.

Last week, the Mercury reported more schools in the city had improved. An end of year report revealed that 14 were now in the top achievement category, compared with 10 two years ago.

The number of good schools had also risen from 52 in Leicester this year, compared with 35 in the same period.