WARRINGTON Borough Council has missed out on its bid to secure £700,000 to support three of the town's secondary schools.

The authority’s education team is striving to close the attainment gap for youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds.

And the council submitted a bid to the Government for around £700,000 which, if successful, would have targeted the town’s secondary schools rated as 'requiring improvement' by Ofsted – University Academy Warrington, Penketh High School and Birchwood Community High School.

But the Department for Education has announced the borough has missed out.

A council spokeswoman said: "The council applied for funding, jointly with Halton Borough Council and Wigan Council, to help improve the transition in some areas, from primary to secondary schools.

"Unfortunately, the bid involving Warrington schools was unsuccessful.

"The three schools involved in Warrington have academy status, therefore are not schools that we have the finances to directly support.

"However, we will be working with the leadership teams in these schools, as well as all other schools in Warrington, in order to develop joint plans to improve outcomes for young people transitioning into secondary education."

The borough's education chiefs said the three 'requiring improvement' sites were included to support their improvement and to enable them to 'accelerate progress'.