FRUSTRATED parents have hit out at a college’s sudden decision to announce it is going to axe A-level courses.

Bournemouth and Poole College’s move to not take on any new A-level students from September has left many teenagers who had been offered places now searching for somewhere else to study at further education level.

While some of the current first-year students at the college have been told they can complete their current subjects, many cannot continue them into second year.

Carmen Gonzalez, whose daughter has seen one of her courses scrapped halfway through her studies, said the college’s decision was “unbelievable”.

“The students were just emailed direct completely out of the blue saying the following courses will no longer be carrying on,” she said. “I can’t believe it. The first couple of days I was almost in shock, saying this can’t be possible.

“They accepted these students on a two-year course. Surely they cannot then abandon them halfway through the course. They say transfer to another college or sixth form but it is not that simple. The students have had a stressful year as it is.

“A lot of the exams at other colleges are run by different boards. It is not simple at all.”

In a statement, the college said those students who are not able to complete courses would be assisted to secure an alternative provider or course.

Ms Gonzalez added: “Why should she have her education completely disrupted like this – to be abandoned halfway through a course they accepted her to do for two years in the first place. It has not been thought through. They have made out it is easy to transfer but it is not easy to do that.

“It is a huge disruption to students and she needs A-levels to go to university. Why should she put off her eduction for another year, which they seem to think she could do by starting another course but she doesn’t want to.”

The college said it made the decision after “careful consideration”, citing “substantial local sixth-form provision” as a factor.

Another mother, whose daughter had been accepted for a place to study A-levels at the college from September and asked to remain anonymous, said: “They must have known this was looming when they were accepting application forms, offering interviews and accepting places.

“I can’t believe a strategic review only takes place one month after my daughter has been offered her place.

“I could understand that eventually that there is not enough people in the area to sustain the sixth form, it is just they really must have known at the end of the last academic year.

“It is the way they have done it rather than the fact they have needed to do it that has angered me."