PLANS to revamp secondary education in Southampton have moved a step closer following a meeting of the city council's Cabinet.

More than 600 pupil places at three of the city's secondary schools may be lost if far-reaching plans by city education chiefs are given the final go- ahead.

At Woodlands Community School, the number of places could be cut from 1,050 to 750 for pupils aged between 11 and 16.

Weston Park Boys' School could drop from 900 places to 750 places, while Chamberlayne Park School could reduce in size from 1,062 places to 900 places.

Consultation with parents, staff, governors and the community during the summer term revealed that there was strong public support for the city council's plans to change the face of secondary schooling in the city.

City council Cabinet member for lifelong learning and training Councillor Calvin Horner has agreed that further work should take place to develop the plans which aim to improve learning at the city's secondary schools.

The latest proposals are to:

Improve the links between secondary schools and their feeder primaries

Enable schools to fast-track some Key Stage Three pupils

Make it easier for schools to work in partnership

Increase out-of-school learning opportunities

Have schools identify at least one area of strength which they can share with other secondary and primary schools and the community.

Other plans include Millbrook Community School to remain as a centre for 11 to 16-year-olds, with a reduced number of places, but in future to collaborate with the appropriate local schools and further education colleges to develop a curriculum with a strong vocational emphasis for 14 to 19-year-olds.

The consultation, which sought the public's views on innovative ways to make the best use of the 1,200 secondary school places predicted to be surplus to requirements across the city's 14 secondary schools by 2007-8, revealed that three out of four people who responded backed the original proposals.

Cllr Horner said: "It is important that we fully investigate the best use of our secondary schools in the future.

"With numbers of secondary school pupils predicted to fall over the next five years we have an opportunity to look at how our schools can make better use of their space and resources.

"Extending the services they offer will benefit not only their staff and pupils but also their wider community and education across the city."