A grammar school will be cutting five A-level subjects and could be making staff redundancies, it was revealed this afternoon.

The Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Faversham says it is facing a "significant squeeze on its income" and announced the scrapping of Philosophy, German, Music, Food Technology and Drama A-levels.

They say they will do "all it can" to avoid compulsory redundancies but said it may be necessary.

The school, an academy, is funded directly by the Education Funding Agency but with pupil funding dropping significantly, it has experienced a loss of income of more than £500,000 over the past three years.

They have also suffered from the 5% increase in staffing budget due to unfunded increases in National Insurance costs, pay awards and increased pension contributions.

From September 2016, the subjects will be scrapped because they are not "attracting viable student numbers".

All changes, including possible redundancies, will be in place for the 2016-17 financial year and parents have been informed in a letter sent out today.

Head teacher David Anderson said today: “We are extremely sorry to be in this situation but cuts to school funding, particularly for the sixth form, alongside increases in National Insurance costs, staff pay awards and increased pension contributions have led to these changes.

“I am particularly upset to be presenting this news in the year when the school achieved its Ofsted outstanding grade.

"It is something that every Headteacher dreads but the governing body and Senior Leadership Team have no alternative but to make these changes to keep the school financially viable.

“All schools are feeling the pinch and every school has had to make tough decisions about how to cut expenditure. Unfortunately for Queen Elizabeth’s, this means cutting subjects at A level that do not attract viable student numbers.

“As Headteacher, I would like to reassure our pupils, parents and staff that we will minimise the impact of these changes on the day to day running of this outstanding school.”