STUDENTS and parents at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon were left disgusted last week after learning that the GCSE computing course is to be scrapped – a year into pupils learning.

The school informed the affected pupils through a letter which said that due to their resident computing teacher leaving, many students will be forced to join GCSE statistics a year into their qualification as an alternative.

Parent Amanda Bingham said the news has come as a shock to her Year 10 daughter Philippa.

“My daughter has been studying this for a year and now they have said she can do statistics and I don’t know how they can get away with it,” Mrs Bingham said.

“It’s a whole year of GCSEs out of the window and she doesn’t want to do statistics and they said we have no choice."

Mrs Bingham added that her daughter aspires to be a graphic designer so she doesn’t see the relevance of statistics in her daughter’s education.

“I thought when people are offered these things; it is set in stone as it is your education at the end of the day.

“I think a lot of the children spent the night in tears,” she added. “My daughter is autistic and she has to have her routines including her computing lesson. Without it, there will just double trouble.”

The letter sent to parents tried to reassure them that the school was listening to their concerns and they “have tried very hard over a lengthy period of time to find a solution”.

Another pupil, who didn’t wish to be named, said the news came at very short notice, leaving the class of 20 feeling left in the dark.

“I was shocked that the school have told us this after a year of hard work on a completely new subject was wasted, I thought that computing would be a very up to date GCSE to have on my record but that is no longer going to happen,” he added.

“The school have given the students no choice but to take a completely different short course usually as a side option for much younger students.”

Headteacher Fergus Stewart issued a statement and said the school’s top priority is “to do what is best for students in this very difficult situation”.

He added: “St Laurence School is committed to including computing within the curriculum, building on students’ learning in primary school and providing a progression route to higher education and training. However we are facing a real challenge in finding a suitably qualified teacher for our current GCSE computing class in the final year of their course.

“We completely understand the anxieties of students and parents and are currently exploring a number of options. I hope that one of these options will be for students to be able to continue with their computing studies and secure a qualification.”