A BURNLEY school could be ‘forced to close’ after a record number of parents applied to send their children elsewhere this September, new figures have revealed.

The future of Hameldon Community College has been called into question after only 40 parents asked for their child to join Year Seven as their first choice compared to 60 last year.

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The Coal Clough Lane school has spaces for 150 new students.

Cllr Mark Townsend, leader of Burnley Council, said the school would have to close if nothing was done to stop the year-on-year reduction in applications.

In contrast, the total number of applications sent to Blessed Trinity RC College in the town rose to 846, an increase of 344 on last year. But there are only 250 places available.

Across Burnley parents are vying for a share of the 1,150 school places at the borough’s six secondary schools.

Cllr Townsend said: “I have serious concerns over the future of Hameldon.

“I think that’s because of the perception among parents that it’s a bad school and because of government policy which has allowed new schools to open in the area where they are not needed.

“There are too many places available which means Hameldon is now not receiving many applications.

“If this continues it will be forced to close, as you can’t have a school with no pupils.”

Burnley High School, a free school, was opened in 2014 and has seen a rise in applications to 201 for its Year Seven.

The figures, which have been released by Lancashire County Council, also show a fall for Sir John Thursby Community College from 381 to 338 applications.

The school has only 210 places up for grabs.

Shuttleworth College also saw a drop from 267 to 244 applications in total, with 210 places available.

However, Unity College saw an increase in applicants from 617 to 656 for the new academic year. Yet it has space for just 240 students.

The National Union of Teachers in East Lancashire has said that the education landscape in the town was putting pressure on teaching jobs.

Simon Jones, spokesman for the union in the region, said: “We have concerns over any school that has a consistently dropping pupil number, as it puts pressure on members jobs.

“It’s a big problem around the country as the government has created a chaotic system where schools are under great pressure to market themselves to attract applicants.”

Blessed Trinity has welcomed the oversubscription, which will leave almost 100 parents who have selected it as their first choice, disappointed.

Phil Thompson, deputy headteacher, said: “We said a few years ago that we didn’t want parents believing they had to go out of Burnley for their children to receive a quality education as we can deliver one here. The amount of students wanting to come to our school, and our GSCE results, shows that we have achieved that.

“A lot of hard work and dedication has gone in over the years at Blessed Trinity to make it a popular choice for students in Burnley and we are proud so many want to come to our school.”

In comparison, every secondary school in Rossendale and Pendle has seen a rise in total applications apart from Colne Primet Academy and Alder Grange Community and Technology School.

There are 1,041 places available in Pendle and 1,025 in Rossendale with only 934 and 937 applications submitted in each respective borough this year, sparking concerns some schools are being ignored by parents.

The highest riser is Whitworth Community High School which has received 277 applications with only 130 places available. Only 36 families applied to Colne Primet Academy as their first choice.

Cllr Tony Greaves, the deputy leader of Pendle Council, said: “It’s alarming that an academy is doing a lot worse that the other schools, most of which are state run.

“It used to be the best school in the borough but that’s a long time ago now.

“It looks like the better schools are being favoured by parents and those that appear to be a bit behind them are being ignored.”

In Rossendale, the figures also show that only one in three people will get a place at Haslingden High School after 740 applications were submitted in total, an increase from 712 last year, with only 270 places up for grabs.

Headteacher Mark Jackson said: “It’s good that we are oversubscribed and it shows that the public have confidence in the school. Long may that continue.”

But Fearns Community High School in Bacup only received 30 first-choice applications for September, a drop from 51 last year.

While Hameldon was unavailable for comment yesterday, a spokesman for Lancashire County Council said that there were no plans to to close it at this time.