JUST six per cent of children in care across Worcestershire end up going to university, according to damning new figures.

A member of the county council's senior Conservative leadership has called it "the biggest scandal" in Worcestershire, saying he is determined to reduce the gap.

Bosses at County Hall keep data on the outcomes of looked-after youngsters and say 94 per cent of them end up not reaching higher education when they hit their late teens.

It comes at a time when the county has record numbers of children in care, which have surged 30 per cent since 2009 to stand at more than 700 today.

The figure of six per cent is the number of looked-after children who reached the age of 18 or 19 last September and opted for university study.

It emerged during a full council meeting where Labour group leader, Councillor Peter McDonald, asked the administration what it was doing to change matters.

Tory Councillor John Campion, the cabinet member for children and families, said: "The attainment gap in our looked-after children and its nearest cohort is absolutely the biggest scandal in this country, and I'd even go as far as saying, in this county as well."

He told the chamber private firm Babcock, which has taken over school support in Worcestershire, has started to address the county's issues and pointed to its "great work" in areas like Devon tackling problems there as children get older and progress through the key stages.

He added: "And in terms of what we're doing, we are investing in support outside of the direct 'looked after' type support that enables them to get over some of the issues, whether it be emotional or physical, that are stopping them attaining.

"So if you have behavioural difficulties that are stopping you engaging in the classroom, it's about making sure that support is there to help address that underlying problem.

"I personally think, as I alluded to at the start, it's a scandal the gap is so wide and I'm really proud of some of the things we're doing to narrow it.

"But there's a long journey ahead before we get into a position that I'd say is acceptable."

Some 40 per cent of UK children who do not experience the care system enter university by the time they are 19, one of the highest figures in the world.

Last year the University and College Admissions Service revealed Britain had seen a record high for the September 2015 intake, rising two per cent to more than 592,000 people.