WEST Somerset College principal Gaynor Comber is facing calls to step down and for Government inspectors to be brought in after poor GCSE results and a dramatic drop in grades sparked an outcry from parents. In an unprecedented move, one parent has launched a petition - signed by more than 200 people in just five days - demanding Mrs Comber be "removed" and that the college comes under the scrutiny of Ofsted. The wave of discontent follows the college's performance at GCSE level this year. As reported in last week's Free Press, just 38 per cent of the 265 teenagers who took GCSEs gained five or more A* to C grades in subjects including English and maths, compared to 49 per cent last year. At Kingsmead School in Wiveliscombe, the figure was 64 per cent, while for many of the state schools in Taunton the percentages were in the 70s and 80s. The drop in the top benchmark prompted the college to announce it would be analysing the results of all students and challenging a significant number. But some parents say Mrs Comber - who has only been at the helm for two years - should go. The college governors said this week they remained "gravely concerned" at the college's apparent inability to improve student attainment at GCSE level, admitting that the 2014 results overall were "well below expectations". The parent who set up the petition but asked not to be named claimed staff and student morale was at rock bottom and cited Mrs Comber's management style and a focus on issues such as new uniform for some of the problems. She questioned why the decision had been taken to drop "community" from the college's title just a year ago. "I am concerned about teaching standards, the high turnover of staff, the management and leadership and more than anything I am extremely worried about my children's future," she said. "I believe these GCSE results have simply brought things to a head. "Ofsted needs to go in and see exactly what is happening." Steve Bevers, whose stepdaughter is among the 2014 GCSE students, said she was so "underwhelmed" with her results that she was now hoping to study A levels in Taunton. "The grades seem to have gradually declined over the last couple of years and this year's results represent a serious drop," he said. "So much of the focus at the college seems to be on issues other than education and what really worries me is that there seems to be such a lack of ambition for the students. "Something needs to be done to improve the situation - it's unacceptable." In addition to signing the petition - at http://www.change.org/p/west-somerset-college-remove-the-principal-and-call-in-ofsted">http://www.change.org/p/west-somerset-college-remove-the-principal-and-call-in-ofsted - parents have also been logging on to Ofsted's Parent View site to give their opinion of the college. But in a letter sent to parents this week and given to the Free Press in response to the petition and the concerns raised, chairman of governors Martin McNeill and vice-chairman Anne Looney said they had every confidence in the ability of the leadership team to deliver better outcomes for students. However, they said they would continue to monitor progress very closely and were expecting a visit from Ofsted in the very near future. "We hope that as well as recognising some of the strengths of the college, the inspectors will provide us with an independent assessment of whether the people and systems that we have put in place can be expected to deliver the improvements that we are all looking for," they said. "We will take any recommendations very seriously and will not hesitate to take action if action needs to be taken." The joint letter went on to say that although some subjects at GCSE level had been on an upward trend over the last three years - including art, business, child development, English literature, IT and PE - overall performance, which rose slightly between 2012 and 2013, fell sharply this year, particularly in English. "To us as governors it is unacceptable that 60 per cent of students should reach the end of year 11 without achieving a C grade in English." Governors have asked for an urgent investigation into the reasons for the poor results in English and have pledged additional resources to ensure students have a second chance to gain what is regarded by the Government, along with maths, as an essential qualification. But the governors said other subjects had also recorded poor results and the review would need to be extended to cover other core subjects. "When we appointed the current principal in the summer of 2012 we made her fully aware of the scale of the challenge that she faced to improve standards that had been stagnating or had even declined," said the letter. "In the light of the disappointing 2012 results (published just before she took up her post) we asked the principal to make the improvement of teaching and learning her main focus. "We were particularly concerned at the gap that we had observed between the college's view of the progress students were making and the results those students achieved in examinations." The governors said that since then they had been pleased to see the levels of accuracy of prediction had improved in most subject areas. A systematic programme of reviews had given a much clearer picture of the strengths and weaknesses of different subject teams, while it was hoped a new faculty structure - which takes effect from Monday - would strengthen the accountability of subject teachers for the progress made by all students. Governors said they welcomed feedback from parents and hoped they could continue to tell them what was going well and how the college could improve. But they admitted: "We have some way to go yet."