Former £5,000-a-year Sheffield school listed for sale, priced £150,000

Handsworth Christian School, in Handsworth, is listed for auction by Mark Jenkinson & son at Bramall Lane on April 4, with a guide price of £150,000.

Potential buyers could secure the 0.4 acre site, complete with one and two-storey permanent buildings and a range of Portakabin-style temporary buildings.

The sales brochure describes the site as being in an 'established residential area' and 'suitable for development'.

The school closed in February, with parents - some of whose children are due to sit their GCSEs this summer - given just one week's notice.

Headteacher Tony Swift said a fall in pupil numbers to just 35, aged between four and 16, had made it financially unsustainable.

He blamed the school's demise on the 'changing educational and economic climate' and said staff had worked with the council to ensure all students were offered alternative places

A spokesman for the insolvency specialist Graywood said: "The school went into liquidation as planned and the building is now up for auction with Mark Jenkinson & son on April 4.

"The headteacher confirmed all the children were offered alternative places by the local education authority and other schools."

The non-selective independent school was registered for 146 pupils, according to Ofsted.

It was last year downgraded from 'good' to 'inadequate' by inspectors from the education watchdog.

Despite the school's 'Christian' title, it did also accept pupils from other faiths.

One mother, whose daughter was due to take her GCSEs at the school this year, had spoken of her anger at the short notice given to staff, students and their families.

Caroline Jacklin said: "Places go under all the time, but giving parents and staff a week’s notice is surely not right."