More than £450,000 was spent on supply and agency staff at Blackburn College last year to fill the gaps in teaching for students.

The college, which offers A Level, Technical, Vocational and Higher Education qualifications in Feilden Street, paid out tens of thousands of pounds to various external agencies.

Figures, published following a Freedom of Information Act request, revealed money was being spent to cover lessons in apprenticeship, higher education, further education and support services.

A Blackburn College spokesperson said: "Blackburn College, like many institutions across the education sector, occasionally relies on supply and agency staff to ensure we continue to deliver excellent teaching and learning experiences for our students.

"Recruiting and retaining staff remains a challenge for the sector nationally, and we are taking proactive steps to address this, including investing in our staff’s professional development and creating an environment that supports long-term career growth.

"Our priority remains ensuring that every student has access to the high-quality education they deserve, and the use of supply staff helps us maintain this standard when temporary staffing needs arise – this represents just over one per cent of our total expenditure on staffing.

"We are always happy to work with our community partners, including local media, to discuss ways to strengthen education and workforce development in our area."

The fee was £150,000 higher than in 2022/23, with most of the funding being outsourced to brickwork apprenticeships.

The apprenticeship department, which includes accountancy, construction, digital, education, electricians, hair and beauty, health and social care, housing, motor vehicles and textiles, footed the highest bill with fees for additional staff costing £177,929.

Further education was also a big additional cost, with the college spending £135,776.

However, despite paying a large number of supply teachers, the higher education department was considered to be in the top three nationally in the 2022/23 academic year.

Official government tables found the college to have some of the highest achievement rates for learners aged 16 to 19, scoring 90.7 per cent.

Money for support services, which include financial support, safeguarding and wellbeing, pastoral care and student support totalled £86,501.

The lowest amount spent on agency staff was in the higher education department, with the cost only reaching £52,501.

In 2023 the college announced a £2.1 million investment into new cyber, digital and healthcare teaching facilities.

This funding went towards improvements to existing teaching spaces in the University Centre completely revamped to for new training suites and a healthcare teaching ward.

These include a 100 per cent pass rate in 22 subjects, with 95 per cent of students achieving at least one A* - C grade and 77 per cent achieving at least one A*-B in this year's A Level results.

The pass rate for the college’s BTEC students also increased to 98.4 per cent, with more than half (55 per cent) awarded a distinction or distinction*.