TEACHERS lined the gates of Richard Huish College as part of a strike about education funding.

Members of the National Education Union from the college chose to support the national strike on Wednesday morning, which took place from 7.30am until 9.30am.

The school remained opened as normal during the strike.

A spokesperson on behalf of the strikers said: "They hope to draw attention to the £760 per student deficit in funding for those attending Sixth Form Colleges against the higher funding per student studying GCSEs at school.

"Education at this age is compulsory and gives young people the skills and knowledge to progress into employment, apprenticeships and university degrees.

"The ongoing reduction in real time funding of 22 per cent since 2010/11 means that colleges are being asked to cut back on those features that are hallmarks of the sector by dropping extracurricular activities, student support services and minority subjects such as modern foreign languages while maintaining the excellence reputation that state funded colleges such as Richard Huish College have earned.

"The number of sixth form colleges has fallen by 50 per cent since 1992, and the number of teachers has declined significantly. This is putting great pressure on everyone working in these colleges, who are now pressing the Government to provide £700 million to fill this gap in funding."

A spokesperson for the college said: "The dispute is between the NEU and the Secretary of State for Education and is in relation to the funding, pay, working conditions and security of employment of NEU members in the sixth form college sector. The recent Department for Education announcement of additional funding available for next academic year is most welcome however there is a necessity for further funding for Sixth Form Colleges in order to address the disparity in funding levels between sixth form colleges and schools."