Birmingham's head of education last night vowed to halve the size of primary school reception class to meet numeracy and literacy targets for 11-year-olds.

Coun Les Lawrence outlined the plan as figures showed the Government had missed its targets for the proportion of youngsters leaving primary school with the required level in English and maths.

The news came as thousands of youngsters across the West Midlands celebrated record GCSE results yesterday.

The national pass rate for five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C rose 1.2 per cent to 62.4 per cent. In Birmingham, the figure increased from 56.7 per cent to just under 59 per cent.

But an 85 per cent pass rate for tests taken by 11-year-olds was missed by six points in English and nine points in maths nationally.

Education chiefs in Birmingham believe a greater focus on youngsters at the first stage of school will have a knock-on effect on attainment throughout their education.

"We are looking at the viability of between 15 and 20 in a reception class," said Coun Lawrence (Con Northfield), Birmingham's cabinet member for education.

"What it would do is allow much more individual teaching which means there is more time to concentrate on meeting the learning needs and requirements of each child.

"It means we can pick up those children who have special educational needs and those that have the potential for fast-tracking far earlier. It also ensures those in the middle group will be stretched."

Most primary schools currently run classes at the maximum level of 30 pupils.

Coun Lawrence said cutting that number in the reception year would help get youngsters on the right track and prevent later failure.

"It is a bit like an initial assessment, except that you take 12 months to do it," he said.

"If we can address needs earlier it is a lot more cost effective than having to play catch-up later."

Initial pilots are scheduled for next September, with a greater roll-out expected to start the following year.

The authority is hoping to capitalise on falling rolls in some parts of the city to achieve the class size reduction.

Education Secretary Alan Johnson denied news about the drop in standards among 11-year-olds had been "buried" on GCSE results day.

"I am pleased to see the biggest ever increase in the number of 11-year-olds reaching the expected level in writing, which has been the most difficult area to improve," he said.

"But it is a concern that there has been a minor dip in reading."

He said plans to return to a back-to-basics method of teaching reading - known as "phonics" - would improve results in future.

Mr Johnson praised improving GCSE results in Birmingham and the West Midlands.

But he expressed concern that some youngsters in the city were under-achieving.

"It's still the case that only around a third of the poorest children in Birmingham get five or more good GCSEs."