CLASS sizes are to rise at Matravers School in Westbury because it cannot afford extra teachers.

It needs four more teachers for the new school year but can only afford to hire one.

The curriculum will also undergo, as yet unspecified, changes, but the range of subjects open to students will not be affected.

Headteacher Nigel Gilhespy said that the school had only managed to avoid axing jobs because the number of pupils at the school will be rising from 950 to just over 1,000 from September. The current crisis in schools has added to problems at Matravers which was already working its way out of a deficit budget caused by the development of a sixth form centre at the school.

But Mr Gilhespy said he hopes the school can get back into the black next year.

He said: "We have made the necessary changes in order to ensure that as we go into next year we should be able to recover the deficit budget but that, of course, depends in the Government funding a year from now."