Hundreds more schools have been elevated to specialist status across the UK.

In the largest round of awards so far, 268 schools gained the status in 10 different subjects.

But Swindon's tally of specialist schools is currently four plus Wootton Bassett School, which is a technology college.

The others are Dorcan and Kingsdown also technology colleges; Ridgeway, which specialises in science, and Commonweal, which is a performing arts college. No Swindon school applied in this round.

Yesterday's announcement took the number of secondary schools with specialist status to 1,954 in the UK up from 257 in 1997.

This means that 62 per cent of all secondary schools now enjoy the title and financial rewards.

Winning the status can bring a school about £650,000 in additional Government funding over the first four or five years as well as the kudos of the title.

But the status is more than a name exam results show that specialist schools do better on average than non-specialist ones.

Keith Defter, the headteacher of Commonweal and chairman of the Swindon Association of Secondary Heads, said the fact that although no Swindon schools had gained the status this time did not mean the town was missing out. "We have a strategy across Swindon's schools that over a period of time all of them will become specialist," he said.

"We have mapped out a plan but it's a question of when you put in the bids.

"It can be a pretty laborious process."

Bradon Forest School, in Purton, is currently putting together an application to become a performing arts college.