Parents have described feeling "heartbroken" and "let down" after discovering their children's A-level places at the City of Liverpool College had been cancelled without prior notice. The decision was communicated to affected students during enrolment sessions on Thursday, August 20, just 24 hours after the college informed its staff.
College Decision Sparks Outrage
The college decided not to offer first-year A-level courses for the 2026/27 academic year, despite students having applied and, in some cases, received offers to study there. The college has said it will continue to support affected students and help them explore alternative qualifications and providers.
Parents and pupils are angry about the timing of the announcement, with several describing the experience as "devastating" on what should have been an important day for young people celebrating their GCSE results. One parent, Laura Coughlin, said her daughter had been waiting in the enrolment queue for six hours. Responding to an ECHO Facebook post about the story, she said: "My daughter has been in the enrolling queue for six hours now and is still in it. This is ridiculous."
Parents Demand Answers
Another reader, Julie Summer, said her granddaughter had been left "heartbroken". Reece Rebecca said her daughter had worked hard to achieve the GCSE grades needed to progress and had been accepted onto a psychology and criminology course. She said: "This happened to my daughter today after trying so hard on her GCSEs, gaining the results needed to progress, to be told when we arrived her course in psychology and criminology she got accepted onto in January has been cancelled. It's unacceptable and cruel."
Other parents said they were now having to urgently search for alternative colleges. Lindsey Shaw described the situation as an "absolute joke", saying her daughter now had to find another college to study A-level English. Richie Asp urged affected families to make complaints, saying his daughter had been "massively let down". He said: "[My daughter] has been devastated and it's ruined her GCSE results day."
College Response and Staff Concerns
In its response to the ECHO, the college said it had taken the decision to withdraw its "small A-level provision for first year students for the 26/27 academic year". It said students already in their second year would be able to complete their A-levels as planned. The college said the decision followed an "extensive review" which considered factors including growth in technical and vocational subjects, student capacity, staff utilisation and wellbeing, the economic needs of the Liverpool City Region and "declining volumes of A-level applications".
A college spokesperson said its teams would work with affected learners during the enrolment period, offering guidance on alternative qualifications including T-levels, as well as helping students consider other providers. The ECHO understands some A-level teaching staff were only informed about the decision shortly before students were told. Staff have raised concerns about reduced teaching hours and possible redeployment to other areas of the college, although the college has said there will be no redundancies.
The college has not said that A-level provision will definitely end beyond the current academic year, telling the ECHO that no decision had been made on its 2027/28 curriculum. A spokesperson said: "We understand that a number of students, who had previously applied to study on our year one A-level programme, will be naturally disappointed with the news that we will not offer a first-year A-level programme for the 26/27 academic year. By lunchtime today our advice and guidance, learning support and curriculum teams had met one to one with 35 students who had previously applied for this programme to offer support, guidance and alternative level 3 programmes across the college and signpost to other A-level providers. Over half of these students have now enrolled on alternative qualifications within the college, our teams will continue to work with the remaining students to find an alternative programme or provider."
