A call has been made for the Lizard Peninsula to have its very own sixth form based at Mullion School.

Julian Rand, Cornwall councillor for the area, revealed recently that he had been trying to get funding for the project, which he said would stop all pupils having to travel long distances to continue education up to the age of 18.

Currently Mullion School only caters for pupils taking their GCSEs at the end of year 11, who are then faced with having to travel to Helston Community College or even further afield, to places such as Penwith College in Penzance or Truro College, to complete A-levels and further education.

Mr Rand said this put a heavy financial strain on Cornwall Council, which subsidised students' travel, as well as being tiring for the students themselves.

However, Mullion School headteacher Wayne Randle told the Packet that in reality it was "financially, just not possible."

He said: "It's lovely that anyone in the council thinks we'd be able to do that for them; that they're thinking of us in that way.

"But the way funding is allocated to post-16 students, we would never get enough students in the door to pay for the additional staff we would need to run it.

"Unfortunately it's not even in the window of achievable. I had to say thank you, but I can't see how it would ever happen."

He added the school would struggle to offer the range of subjects that dedicated further education colleges could provide.

Mr Randle said he was not worried about his students' education when they left in year 11, adding: "There's a perfectly good sixth form at Helston and I'm happy for my students to go there."

Mr Rand said when he discovered Cornwall Council had been granted £10 million from central government for secondary schooling in the county, he raised the idea with officers - but was told that unfortunately it "wasn't appropriate" and could not be spent on sixth forms.

Despite this, Mr Rand said he was "not dismissing the sixth form" proposal - although he acknowledged the challenges this would present.

He told the Packet: "Sixth form transport is hugely expensive for Cornwall Council. The budget for school transport [as a whole] for the coming year is £16 million. If we could save some money on the transport we are definitely needing money for other areas.

"When I said it at the parish council meeting I was really hopeful that we might be able to do something.

"But schools are struggling to provide the sixth forms, it seems, whereas the colleges are more structured and have that focus."