BRIDGWATER & Taunton College has cleared up rumours of A Level teachers being made redundant ahead of exams after an online petition was widely circulated online.

A petition making its way round social media said the college was planning to make a number of tutors redundant with just months to go before students were to sit their exams.

A spokesman for Bridgwater & Taunton College said it is looking at merging its A Level Department and its Business and Computing Department and as a result would be ‘reviewing management needs for the new department’.

“Discussions are ongoing with staff involved in potential changes and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this point.,” the spokesman said.

“However, we can confirm that there will be minimal impact on our A level students.”
Bridgwater & Taunton College says the co-ordination of subjects across the curriculum will provide real benefits for students going forward and that the College is very proud of its A Level Department.

“We continue to invest to ensure our students can access a rich and diverse study programme. 

“Last year, we reviewed our approach to A Level provision and increased the number of hours each student is taught every week in each subject to some of the highest levels in the sector, six hours per subject in year one and five hours in year two,” the spokesman said.

“This has boosted our ability to provide students with an enhanced learning experience, that helps each individual to achieve their full potential.

“As a result of this new approach, our students celebrated their best ever results last year, with a 100 per cent pass rate in 30 subjects, with 50 per cent of students achieving A* to B grades. 

“Our students went on to study at prestigious Universities such as the Royal Holloway, University of London, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Bristol, and The University of Exeter.”

The Bridgwater & Taunton College spokesman confirmed that the college has concluded a small staff consultation process and anticipate that less than two per cent of the total workforce will be affected.

Bridgwater & Taunton College has approximately 1,500 students aged 16 to 18.
For more information visit www.btc.ac.uk