A SECONDARY school in Hereford has been told by the government that it needs to close down in August.

Robert Owen Academy in Blackfriars Street has been informed by the Regional Schools Commissioner that it needs to shut for good despite a recent Ofsted report that said the school is improving.

Leaders at the school said they will fight for their students and are looking at all available options to keep the academy open.

Closure would mean 47 pupils would need to find places at other schools, and eight teachers and tutors, and ten other staff will lose their jobs.

Chris Morgan, chair of The Robert Owen Academies Trust, said: "We are determined to fight for our students and their wellbeing with all we have.

"It is the students who matter and we all need to be clear on this.

"Over the years the efforts of our loyal and hardworking staff have led to us making a significant difference to the lives of more than 200 young people, and we are simply not willing to let that go to waste."

The academy provides vocational skills for 14 to 19-year-olds and opened on its current site in September 2014.

A new principal and two assistant principals were appointed last year, after the school was placed in special measures in 2016.

But a recent Ofsted report published on March 5 said the leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of special measures and that Year 11 pupils' progress has benefited from improved teaching.

Current Year 11 pupils also have "better rates of progress and attainment than previous cohorts."

Mr Morgan said: "This is a clear case of one government department not talking to another. On the one hand, Ofsted is clearly saying that the academy has responded well and shown great improvement, yet on the other the Regional Schools Commissioner, in liaison with the minister, Lord Agnew, is saying let's close it down - it simply beggars belief, and it's a crazy decision.

"Recourse to a Judicial Review remains an option, particularly if that helps to identify where the pressure has come from over the past five years to persuade central government to close the academy."

He questioned where the students will go when the school closes.

Mr Morgan said he wants to know why the "fantastic option to evolve into the UTC run by the South Gloucestershire Trust and specialising in Cyber Security and Health and Wellbeing was brushed aside."

A Department for Education spokesman said: “One of the many strengths of the free schools programme is that we can identify and intervene quickly wherever we find a failure.

“The closure of this school is not a decision we have taken lightly and our priority is to ensure minimal disruption for pupils. We continue to work with the Robert Owen Academy trust, the local authority and other local schools to make sure the transition is as smooth as possible.”