Dartmouth Academy was adamant it was business as usual at the 534-pupil college this week despite the shock news that it had lost its national sponsor.

E-Act, which is paid £170,000 a year to improve teaching standards at the primary and secondary level academy, has been told to give up 10 of the 34 colleges it works with – including Dartmouth Academy.

This week academy principal Nick Hindmarsh made it clear that the loss of E-Act as a sponsor was no reflection on the school or its teaching record. And he added: 'We are still the same school we were. Our standards are going up and the numbers on the roll are going up.

'All that might change is that E-Act won't be the sponsor and that will be done by someone else. On a day-to-day basis, in terms of learning or who will be teaching the students, it will all stay the same.'

For more on this story, see this week's Dartmouth Chronicle