A Liberal Democrat councillor is calling on schools in the district to better publicise bursaries available to sixth form students.

Councillor Geoff Reid (Eccleshill) had asked that Bradford Council do more following the scrapping of the Educational Maintenance Allowance.

But schools are not obliged to inform the local authority as to whether their bursaries are publicised, and the Council cannot instruct them to, only advise on best practice.

Coun Reid said: “However, despite the national guidance and the Council's own guidance issued in July, I believe that there are schools in the district who could do better in getting the message to learners whose family circumstances make staying on at school beyond 16 difficult.

“School governors could help by asking questions about the effective use of bursaries in their own schools. Strengthening educational achievement in some of our most hard-pressed families should be a source of pride for any school.”