DUDLEY'S education bosses are closing a borough school which has suffered falling pupil numbers and exam results.

The Coseley School will undergo a phased closure over the next 12 months, after Dudley Council's cabinet agreed to close the school last night (Thursday).

In September 2015, the school had just over 520 pupils - half of its 975 capacity, and last year’s GCSE results placed it bottom of all borough secondary schools for five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths.

Cabinet agreed a consultation exercise in January this year to which more than 200 people responded by completing an online questionnaire, with a further 58 people writing directly to the council in addition to the questionnaire responses.

Of those completing the questionnaire, 68 per cent of people said the reasons for closing the school were clear while 62 per cent supported the council’s promise to make arrangements for children to travel to alternative schools.

However 84 per cent of people responding to the questionnaire did not support the closure of the school, despite the low pupil numbers, poor exam results and financial difficulties.

Councillor Ian Cooper, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “This decision is about putting the needs of pupils first. We simply cannot allow this school to slip further down in terms of pupils numbers and the financial difficulties it is in. We have looked long and hard at this issue, but we have to do the right thing for everyone at The Coseley School.

“There are only 398 pupils now on roll, including 138 Year 11 pupils who will leave at the end of this term. This means there are only 287 pupils still on roll for September, of which all but 179 have already applied for places at an alternative school.

“Of these, 91 are current year 10 pupils, who will stay at the school to finish exam courses, with approximately 30 in each of the other years. This is simply not sustainable.”

The school is currently judged by Ofsted as ‘requiring improvement’.

Last year pupils at the school achieved 31 per cent five A*-C GCSEs including English and maths, which is well below the national minimum target of 40 per cent, placing it in the bottom 10 per cent of schools in the country. The very low number of parents from Dudley borough putting The Coseley School down as their choice for September 2016, means pupil numbers have fallen to critical levels.

The financial issues at the school means if it tried to address them by reducing staff it would not be able to provide an appropriate curriculum for pupils.

Prior to the consultation opening just 54 parents, including 15 from outside the borough, had chosen the school as their first preference for September 2016 against a maximum intake of 195.

Since then, more than 190 parents have asked to move their children to other schools and only 26 have continued with their application for a place at the school for this September.

The fall in pupil numbers over time has had a negative impact on the school’s finances.

The school will close fully by August 2017.

Leisure facilities on the site will remain open to the public under the proposals.

Meanwhile, council officers have been tasked with exploring future education provision at the Coseley School site once the upturn in secondary pupil numbers across the borough starts to have an impact from 2019 onwards.

The council has already identified alternative schools with spare capacity which can take pupils that have yet to be placed.