AN OFSTED inspection into the state of religious education in Hampshire's schools has revealed mixed results.

The report into pupils' achievement, teaching quality and year-on-year improvement for the 2003/04 academic year shows improvements in some areas but declines in others.

At Key Stage 1, 32 per cent of schools achieved above average standards for religious education - a six per cent rise on last year - and 86 per cent achieved satisfactory or above average standards for the subject.

About 88 per cent of schools maintained or improved RE provision since the last inspection.

However, 10 per cent of teaching was rated less than satisfactory, compared with none in 2002/03.

At Key Stage 2, 46 per cent of schools achieved above average standards - an increase of 28 per cent on last year - and 94 per cent achieved average or above average standards.

About 84 per cent of schools maintained or improved RE provision. However, teaching deemed less than satisfactory rose from nothing last year to 7.5 per cent.

At Key Stage 3, the report said schools have improved in terms of achievement, with 63 per cent rated above average, an increase of six per cent on last year.

For Key Stage 4, more schools were rated above average, but 18.5 per cent were rated below average, compared with none last year. Teaching quality has also declined, with nine per cent deemed less than satisfactory compared with none last year.

There were no previous figures to compare overall improvement at senior schools.

The results were discussed at a meeting of the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) in Winchester.

Clive Erricker, the county inspector for RE, warned members about the limited nature of the data.

He said only a small number of schools were inspected each year, and that inspectors visited different schools each time.

"These are a small sample each year of the overall picture of the health of religious education in the county," he said.

"Each year, the sample changes, so it's not possible to form an overall picture annually, or of developments in religious education in Hampshire."

David Kirk, a county councillor and member of SACRE, added: "The only meaningful information is the improvement since the last inspection, and even that's not telling us much.

Mr Erricker said 68 primary schools and 11 secondary schools were inspected for the 2003/04 academic year, and he explained that the drop in teaching quality only reflected two or three teachers in the county.

"We have to take into account that it was only the quality of teaching that was seen in those particular lessons, and there is no obvious and direct correlation between the levels of teaching and achievement," he said.

The report also stated that two primary schools failed to allocate enough time to religious education, along with six of the 11 senior schools for non-GCSE exam students at Key Stage 4.

Mr Erricker agreed that this was worrying, but said it was a national phenomenon.