Northamptonshire council plan to end of three-tier schooling

Plans to end three-tier schooling in Northamptonshire are being considered by the county council.

The council has written to Oundle, King's Cliffe and Thrapston schools to inform them of an intention to "explore the possibility of a two-tier system" in their area.

The schools are the only ones in the county to use a lower, middle and upper school system.

The council's cabinet will debate the idea in December.

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said that although the authority "doesn't run schools, we do have overall responsibility for the strategic planning of school provision".

"We've written to the schools to confirm that we would like to explore the possibility of changing to a two tier system," he said.

If the council supports the plan, a public consultation will be held before any final decision is taken.