Half-empty Glenburn Sports College in Skelmersdale to close

Rosie Cooper said closing the school was the cheap and easy option

A half-empty school with the worst GCSE results in Lancashire is to close, the county council has confirmed.

Glenburn Sports College, in Skelmersdale, has only 320 students in a school built for more than 1,000.

Lancashire County Council's Matthew Tomlinson said "we cannot justify keeping open a school with consistently poor results and low pupil numbers".

West Lancashire MP Rosie Cooper who campaigned to save it said children in Skelmersdale had been "let down".

'Quickly swooped'

Consultation on the future of Glenburn Sports College began in October after figures showed the number of pupils had reduced by 54% since 2006.

The Labour MP said closing it was the "easy and cheap option that the county [council] has grabbed with both hands".

"The school has been improving but there was a sudden dip this last year and the council quickly swooped in and took the decision," she said.

"Even more concerning is the lack of clarity and commitment and support for existing pupils especially those taking their GCSEs."

Angela Roberts, a parent of one of the pupils, accused LCC of mismanagement and said it had "failed the children in the middle of their exams".

However, county councillor Mr Tomlinson, cabinet member for children, young people and schools, said the school had consistently poor results "in spite of a range of additional support" it has provided.

He also said the low pupil numbers "made it difficult for it to provide a broad and balanced education" and impacts on the school's finances and standards.

He added he was aware of how hard people campaigned for Glenburn to stay open "but the truth is that the school's difficulties go back many years and the situation hasn't improved despite the best efforts of everyone involved".

He said Ofsted inspectors have been very concerned about the school for years and if it did not close Glenburn, the Department for Education "would probably make us do so."

The school is due to close on 31 August 2016.

Pupils in years 7 and 9 will move to a different school in September while current Year 8 and Year 10 pupils will remain at the school until July 2016.