HUNDREDS of students have signed an online petition against a new A level policy at a Bournemouth grammar school.

Students in Bournemouth School's sixth form are protesting that they are not allowed to drop one of their four A level subjects after a year of study.

They fear the policy could harm their chances of getting into top universities, many of which base their entry requirement on three A level grades.

But head teacher Dr Dorian Lewis said the policy was made clear to students before they joined the sixth form last September and that the decision to change the rules has been based on a shake-up of A levels nationally.

Most universities offer places based on three grades and students feel they should be able to focus on three subjects.

Law at Oxford University typically needs three A grades, maths at Cambridge two A* grades and one A and medicine at Oxford one A* and two A grades.

The petition, which currently has 450 signatures, says: "Bournemouth School students are currently forced to study 4 A-Levels. Studying the additional subject requires more time and dedication, yet universities only consider 3 A-Level results, rendering the obligation to study 4 obsolete.

"Schools should promote the wellbeing, performance and independence of their students, not endanger their future success by dictating what is right and wrong.

"Why should students be forced to intensively study 4 subjects when the work burden would be too great and when universities only require 3? With this in mind, we request that this policy is overturned and the students' right to self determination is restored."

Dr Lewis said Bournemouth School, in East Way, is the first in the area to drop AS levels and focus on two years of A level study.

He said: "We were keen to ensure that this decision did not disadvantage our students were they to apply to university. We were assured that the decision not to enter students for AS level would not disadvantage them.

"Were they to only study three A levels, rather than the 3.5 or more that students here have historically completed, we feel that they would be disadvantaged."

He said there is no evidence that studying fewer A levels improves the grades attained and said the policy was made clear at a presentation to prospective students in November 2014, in a prospectus insert and during an induction day in June last year.