A struggling Walsall secondary school will definitely close, education bosses admitted today.

The only decision members of the council’s cabinet have left to make is whether Sneyd Community School shuts in 2010 or 2011.

It comes after the Express & Star revealed the Bloxwich school was facing closure earlier this month because of falling pupil numbers and poor results.

A consultation with parents, pupils and staff over when and how the closure will be handled is to be launched next week.

Education chiefs say declining results place Sneyd in the bottom five per cent of schools across the country despite extra support and cash over the last few years.

The school was placed in special measures in 2005 but 18 months later it was deemed as having turned itself around. Pupil numbers have fallen by nearly a third, from 1,395 in 2005 to 1,016 in 2008.