CHILDREN from Dulverton could receive secondary education at Wiveliscombe's Kingsmead School in a surprise twist to a funding crisis.

Governors from the Exmoor Federation - Dulverton Middle, All Saints First and Exford First schools - this week asked Somerset County Council, the local education authority, to launch a formal consultation on proposals which would change the age range in two of its schools.

Under the proposals - put forward by the county council and supported by the governors - All Saints would become an early years and infant school catering for children from 0 to seven, while Dulverton Middle would become a junior school, with pupils aged from seven to 11.

Kingsmead, meanwhile, would consult on a change in its admissions arrangements which would give priority to year seven children living in the Dulverton Middle catchment area at aged 11 from September 2015 - with year eight children able to transfer at the same time.

However, no changes are proposed for Exford First, which would continue to take pupils up to age nine.

Both the county council and governors are insisting there are no plans to close the school, with the options for transfer schools due to be clarified during the consultation process.

A county council spokesman said the options could include Minehead Middle, Dulverton Junior or even North Molton Primary School.

"We would seek the views of parents as to their likely preferred options during the formal consultation period," he said.

However, the proposed changes to the structure of the education system could be seen as something of a kick in the teeth for the West Somerset College, which after consultation earlier this year is seeking approval from the Secretary of State to extend its age range from September 2015 to allow it to enrol 11 and 12-year-old students.

The college decided to press ahead with the proposal despite overwhelming objections from consultees, insisting it was a specific initiative to tackle the impact of funding cuts on year seven and eight children at Dulverton Middle.

Yesterday (Thursday) the college told the Free Press it had no comment to make on the county council's proposal.

Chairman of governors of the Exmoor Federation Ian Fleming said the proposal currently on the table had been put forward by the county council, which would make the final decision next year.

"But it is the option that the governors at a meeting on Tuesday agreed to support," he said.

"It was unanimous apart from one abstention.

"This has been a difficult decision for the governing body to arrive at but after carrying out our own review over several months we feel this decision is the best way forward to sustain the education of children living on this side of the moor for the foreseeable future."

Some of the concerns raised about the earlier proposal to transfer Dulverton pupils to the West Somerset College at aged 11 related to the distance they would have to travel.

Youngsters would face a 28-mile round trip to Kingsmead, as opposed to the 38-mile daily commute to Minehead.

But it would be the reverse for children from Exford, with Minehead a shorter option than Wiveliscombe.

However, with the funding crisis facing Dulverton Middle described as unprecedented, changes in the way year seven and eight children are educated are unavoidable.

The school has been hit by drastic reductions in its budget allocation from central Government following the Department of Education's introduction of a new school funding criteria.

That has already resulted in a £100,000 cut in its funding this year, with the financial crisis expected to deepen in future years.

Mr Fleming said: "Doing nothing is not an option but we want to stress that no decision has been made as yet and the consultation will take account of the views of parents, children and the wider community.

"The one thing we all want to do is to raise standards across the whole of West Somerset but we want to make sure that our children have the best opportunities to benefit from that.

"We are not looking for a stopgap - we want a system that will work into the future."

County council cabinet member for children and families and Dulverton division member Cllr Frances Nicholson said there had already been widespread informal consultation with staff, parents, pupils and the wider community and careful analysis of all the possibilities.

"No decision here will be easy so it is really important that everyone who has something to say or any ideas to contribute should take the opportunity now of responding to the consultation," she said.