FOLLOWING the announcement that Greater Manchester University Technical College (UTC) is to close due to a lack of students just three years after it first opened, the principal of UTC Warrington has said the town centre college remains in a ‘strong position’.

Not a single pupil at the £9million GM UTC in Oldham achieved an A* to C grade in both maths and English GCSE at the school last summer.

And the closure makes it the seventh UTC to shut its doors since the specialist schools, which focus on science, technology, engineering and maths subjects as well as traditional GCSEs, were introduced.

But Lee Barber at the newly opened Warrington UTC urged parents not to worry and highlighted that the Dallam Lane school had already attracted more students in its first year than any other UTC in the country.

He said: “Whilst we are exceptionally disappointed to hear about the sad news regarding the closure in Oldham, UTC Warrington is not connected, moreover we are in a very strong position.

“We have recruited more students in our first year of operation than any other UTC nationally.

“We are already well on the way to being oversubscribed for year two, starting in September 2017. 

“Therefore we do not face the same recruitment and subsequent finance issues, which have forced the closure in Oldham. 

“Thankfully, we are delivering the employer-focused, technical education we promised our students who joined us back in September 2016. Members of the public and prospective students are welcome to come along and see UTC Warrington first hand.”

Almost 200 students started at the £10million college in the town's Stadium Quarter in September 2016.

Michael Gove championed UTCs while he was education secretary in 2011 and there are currently 48 of these specialist schools open across the UK according to the University Technical Colleges website.