A CHANGE in school holidays could have a drastic effect on exam results in Burnley and Pendle, councillors and education campaigners warned today.

Pendle Councillor David Whipp said Year 11 pupils' futures will be damaged because of the abolition of the traditional 150-year-old Wakes Week holidays.

This summer pupils in the two boroughs will have a nine-week holiday after Lancashire County Council decided to bring terms into line with the rest of the country.

And Coun Whipp claimed that pupils losing three weeks of schooling would lead to poorer GCSE results.

Teaching unions admitted the situation was not perfect, but said it had confidence its members would do their best not to let standards slip.

Martin Fisher, regional officer for the NUT, said many teachers and parents were against the move.

He said: "There are many people who are opposed to this move, including parents and teachers and I am sure many parents would prefer to return to the original pattern but I am sure all the teachers in the area will be working extra hard to make sure their pupils do as well as they possibly can.

"Teachers would like as much time as possible to work with their pupils, but that is out of our hands."

But the Campaign for Real Education,a pressure group of parents and teachers, which demands more choice for children, said the change was extreme' and would result in damage to education.

County chiefs said the reorganisation was introduced following complaints the area could not attract the best teachers because of the different holidays.

But Coun Whipp, also a county councillor for West Craven, criticised the authority for not providing any extra activities or funding for schemes to keep children occupied during the extended break and said many families were worried how they would cope.

He added Pendle Council had stumped up £50,000 to pay for summer clubs and other activities.

Coun Whipp said: "Unfortunately they are going to lose three weeks of schooling prior to their exams because they are not going back until September.

"They are not going to be able to catch up and after a nine week break some children will take a while to get back into the groove.

"We are not top of the class when it comes to exam grades and I think this will affect us badly. We are likely to get poorer results than otherwise would have been achieved."

From September, the county council's 11 districts will adopt the standard school year, comprising two seven-week terms and four six-week terms.

The overhaul severed the schools' connection with Burnley and Pendle's traditional Wakes Weeks, which saw schools break up earlier in July and re-start in August before another short holiday in September.

The announcement has caused controversy with councillors claiming parents were against the move and that children would be taken out of school because families would not be able to afford to go on holiday in July and August.

Last month dinner ladies finally struck a deal after they were set to lose 17 days pay because of the move.

Now Coun Whipp will make a last ditch bid to get county hall to reverse its decision as well as press it for extra funding to pay for summer activities.

He added: "The irony is the county council did this because it would bring Burnley and Pendle into line with the standard school holiday and stop cross boundary problems of people living in one area but going to school in another.

"But Blackburn with Darwen are not on the same pattern so the problems exist."

County Councillor Tony Martin said: "We were always told we could not get decent teachers because the school year was out of kilter with the rest of the country.

"We will do everything we can to make sure it does not affect GCSE results and we will be very disappointed if it does."

But Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said any change should have been brought in gradually.

He said: "To suddenly lose three weeks is very extreme and the youngsters are bound to lose out."