Secondary education in Knowsley risks becoming “unviable” if efforts to improve the standard of schools do not succeed, MPs have been warned.

The borough in Merseyside has languished at the bottom of national GCSE league tables for more than a decade, and its MP, George Howarth, yesterday used a Commons debate to call for the government to support efforts to improve its performance.

He told fellow MPs that 39 per cent of its secondary school population attended schools in neighbouring boroughs, taking more than £17 million out of Knowsley’s education system.

Mr Howarth said: “Unchecked, that is in danger of escalating to the point at which secondary education in the borough becomes unviable.”

A-level provision in Knowsley is already due to end next year, following Halewood Academy’s announcement in March that it would close its sixth form in August 2017 because of low student numbers.

Education minister Caroline Dinenage told the Commons that her department was discussing options for A-level provision in Knowsley “as we speak”, and said the regional schools commissioner would meet with education minister Lord Nash and local MPs early next month to discuss these.

‘Potential solutions’

Mr Howarth said there were “potential solutions”. “At a recent meeting with the principal of Knowsley Community College about the proposed merger with St Helens College, I was pleased to hear that, if the merger goes ahead, they have some serious ideas about how to restore viable A-level provision in the borough,” he added.

The council has appointed a commission that brings together national experts and local leaders to examine ways of boosting results.

Mr Howarth rejected suggestions that the creation of a grammar school could be the answer to Knowsley’s problems, saying it would “make matters worse for the overwhelming majority of school students”.

Instead, he said there was “a case to be made for creating a choice post-14”.

“In many cases it would be more effective if the opportunity for vocational education were available post-14, offering pupils a programme of GCSEs, technical and professional qualifications and work experience,” he added.

“That is not to say that those who aspire to a more academic education should not have that choice but, rather, that it should be a choice and not the only option.”

Ms Dinenage said she welcomed the launch of the education commission for the borough, which she said would work closely with the Department for Education.

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