COUNCILLORS are being urged to back plans to close a struggling college and re-open it under the management of a successful nearby secondary school.

Sunnydale Community College, on Middridge Lane, in Shildon, was judged as inadequate and to have serious weaknesses by Ofsted earlier this year.

Its GCSE results have fallen below the national average in recent years and less than half of its 954 pupil spaces are filled.

Durham County Council plans to try to raise standards in Shildon by joining the college to Greenfield Community College, in Newton Aycliffe.

Teaching at Greenfield was labelled as good by Ofsted in 2012 and GCSE results in recent years show that Greenfield is above the national average.

The council’s cabinet committee is recommended to approve the scheme and it will be discussed by the committee on Wednesday, November 19.

If the plan is agreed by cabinet then Sunnydale will close on Wednesday, December 31, and then re-open the following day as part of the enlarged Greenfield school.

Councillor Henry Nicholson, a county councillor for Shildon and a governor at Sunnydale, said: “I think that’s a really positive move for both schools.

“It will give the pupils the best start possible and everyone from the staff to the pupils is looking forward to the move.”

The two combined schools will have 1,100 pupils who will access lessons on both sites.

The schools are already run by one governing body and Greenfield headteacher, David Priestley, will be the executive headteacher of both schools.

A public consultation held in July to gather views showed strong support for the move.