Exam results could suffer across North Oxfordshire if Warriner School gets permission to open a sixth form, Banbury School has warned.

It said the proposed Bloxham sixth form would be too small, risked money being taken from school budgets and could see A-Levels axed. In a letter to Warriner it said: “Smaller sixth forms do less well and so there would be a potential reduction and lowering of the quality of experience and exam results of young people in these schools across north Oxfordshire.”

Warriner wants 187 students in its sixth form by 2014 with 30 in 2012 and 90 in 2013. It is the only school in the Banbury area without a sixth form.

Under Government rules, funding follows the student, so whichever college they choose to attend would get cash.