ALL East Lancashire schools should be braced for further cuts according to the National Union of Teachers.

The union’s comments come after the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK warned at the TUC Congress in Brighton that many sixth form colleges were facing a financial crisis because of government funding cuts.

Simon Jones, who represents the NUT in East Lancashire, said the cuts that sixth form colleges have faced will also affect other schools in the future.

In a debate on the education funding crisis, the NASUWT said much of the sector was in a ‘parlous financial state’.

The comments come after St Mary’s College in Blackburn faced £700,000 worth of cuts in 2013 and was forced to make a raft of staff redundancies and scale back courses.

Mr Jones said: “Certainly St Mary’s College has been the hardest hit over the last few years and has been forced into wave after wave of redundancies.

“I agree the sixth form colleges all over the country are facing financial problems and East Lancashire is not exempt from that.

“The cuts that the sixth form colleges have been dealing with will filter down to other schools in the areas as well so everybody should be worried.”

NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said: “One of the most disgraceful aspects of the attacks on education by this government is the attack on sixth form college funding. Sixth form colleges have experienced deeper cuts to their budgets than any other education institutions.

“These cuts, combined with increasing costs and on-going funding inequalities have left many sixth form colleges in a parlous financial state.”

NASUWT national executive member Alan Hackett said: “Sixth form colleges have proved over many years they can deliver an outstanding education for students while offering value for money, but the sector has reached the point where it cannot absorb more funding reductions.”