News emerged late last week that the sixth form at Kingsway Academy is closing due to extreme budget pressures.

The school will no longer take sixth form students and those who have already started their post-16 education have been asked to find alternative arrangements from this September.

Students and parents are rightly concerned about what the future holds. I’ve heard from some who have told me it is now too late to find suitable courses for September and that they are now in danger of missing out on a full year of their education.

While some neighbouring schools have offered to step in and help, those on vocational courses are particularly at risk of having their education massively disrupted. This isn’t good enough.

The worry for me is that the cuts backs at Kingsway Academy could just be the tip of the iceberg.

I have had discussions with head teachers in Wirral who have told me about the budget pressures they’re facing as the school leaving age increases to 18.

Alarmingly, I have been told that nineteen out of twenty-one of our local secondary schools face significant financial strain over the next two years and are teaching staff are deeply anxious about what the future holds.

David Cameron says education is a key priority of his Government but here in Wirral we’re seeing schools struggling to keep the doors open and classes running for local kids.

Recently we’ve heard about the mess in NHS services at Arrowe Park and now our local secondary schools face a potential crisis. This is a mess created by the Government who are losing control over our public services. For the sake of local young people, they’ve got to sort it out.

I have written to the Secretary of State for Education to raise my concerns. Wirral’s secondary schools need help.