Leicestershire schools' £80m funding bid rejected

A single school would have replaced three Loughborough schools

A bid for £80m of government funding to help reorganise Leicestershire schools has been rejected.

The money would have been used in Loughborough, Quorn and Barrow-upon-Soar to phase out the area's three-tier educational system.

The county council said it would examine its options after the setback.

Parents holding a demonstration to save three schools threatened by the plans and wider restructuring proposals said officials must reconsider.

The £80m plan would have seen the schools rebuilt to accommodate a more standard primary and secondary system, rather than the current primary, middle and upper set-up.

'Back to square one'

In Loughborough this would have meant Limehurst, Garendon and Burleigh schools being replaced with a single school.

In a separate move, the century-old King Edward VII school in Melton Mowbray is set to close because the council predicts falling pupil numbers will make it unsustainable.

Those backing these schools have come together to demonstrate outside County Hall to persuade the authority to change its mind.

The failure of the Building Schools for the Future funding bid has left councillors looking at other options for reforming the schools.

Leader of the county council David Parsons said he was "devastated" at the news.

He added: "We are back to square one. I have asked the officers of the county council to report on our options within one or two months.

"We are still asking how to get the One Through School system in place and there are still 700 surplus places in Loughborough to deal with.

"However, ironically losing out on the money may have given us some flexibility on how to do this and we could look at maintaining some kind of educational presence on the Limehurst site."