Parents at a Tolworth primary school fear their children's education is being compromised after plans to merge two year groups were announced.

Knollmead Primary School is set to merge two year five and six classes together leaving one year five class from September.

In a letter sent out to parents this week it said: "As you are aware there are lots of exciting new initiatives beginning next year and we have some new and enthusiastic teachers joining our staff.

"We have considered very carefully how to ensure that every pupil reaches their full potential and is challenged appropriately. We now have a model that we feel will benefit all pupils."

It added that classes would be much smaller than an average class of 30 and would be supported by teaching assistants.

The letter also said children would be grouped according to their ability in core subjects such as maths and English, "so that every child focuses on next steps relevant to them".

But one parent who did not want to be named said: "Which curriculum is it going to be? Year six is a really important year to prepare them for secondary school - how they are going to manage the curriculum and not repeat what the current year fives have already done, I don’t know.

"This is their big plan to save money. It seems to be all about funds and that is impacting children’s education when it should not be."

She added no consultation over the changes had taken place with parents.

It has been a turbulent couple of years for Knollmead, which was rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted inspectors in 2013.

The school was partnered with the Coombe Academy Trust, which also runs Coombe Boys’ School and Coombe Girls’ School, as a result of the inspection.

A new headteacher, Emma Kelty, was installed in September 2013, and she vowed to turn the school around.

But within a year it was announced Ms Kelty would not be returning to the school 'for some time' and is currently understood to be travelling.

Acting headteacher Pip Utting said: "At Knollmead we prioritise the learning needs of all of our pupils to ensure that they make excellent progress throughout Key Stages 1 and 2.

"Our curriculum focuses on individual and personalised learning in order to ensure that we stretch the most able and support those with additional needs. "We are very proud of the progress the school has made over the past year and are grateful to the staff for their role in this.

"It is not unusual for schools to introduce mixed age classes as part of a personalised learning experience and transition to secondary school is a key focus for us; one that we can fully exploit with our close links to local secondary schools."