THE director of an Oxford centre researching and supporting children in care was 'thrilled' to be made an OBE but said there was more work to be done.

Professor Judy Sebba runs the Rees Centre for Research in Fostering and Education at Oxford University.

She joined the centre when it opened in 2012 and has worked with her colleagues to remove barriers to children's social care and support looked after children.

Prof Sebba has today been made an OBE in the New Year Honours list for services to higher education and disadvantaged yound people.

Professor Sebba said: "I'm thrilled but it's very important to make clear that it's not one person on their own - the work done to help children in care is the work of many people at the Rees Centre.

"Also we have a huge amount still to do - there's a low percentage of looked after children getting GCSEs and many are ending up in prison.

"It's not their fault but the fault of the services supposed to support them."

She leads research looking at the motivations for becoming a foster carer and the educational progress of children in care. She has also conducted a wide range of evaluation studies.

She said: "We have demonstrated a number of things including for example when a child's placement changes and he moves foster parents it's so important they don't move to a different school - the school provides the stability.

"That's the kind of finding we have been working to implement."