TWO prestigious independent girls' schools are to merge and sell off property resulting in job losses.

Malvern Girls' College and St James's School, both in Malvern, will amalgamate in September.

More than £8m will be raised by selling off St James's existing site in West Malvern, which will not be used after the end of this school year.

A spokesman for the new school, which will be called Malvern St James, said job losses were likely.

"There will be some rationalisation - that's inevitable - but where possible, because all the teachers are of a high standard, they will be looked after," he said.

"The injection of £8m will put the school on a secure footing and the economies of scale means we are confident of an assured future."

The new school will be managed by the current headmistress of St James's, Rosalind Hayes.

She said the merger would reinforce the strength of single-sex education.

She added: "This is a wonderful opportunity to create a strong girls-only school.

"Research shows that girls in a single-sex school learn better than girls in a co-educational school.

"But we are going to do more than build a school that achieves the highest academic standards. We are going to bring together the best of both schools and provide a caring yet challenging environment in which girls of

all abilities can develop."

The school will invest £8m in the sell-off of the St James's site on West Malvern Road to invest in new facilities at the current Malvern Girls' College site on Barnards Green Road.

The school is to build a new sports hall and swimming pool, a state-of-the-art classroom block and refurbish boarding accommodation. It will be able to cater for about 100 more girls than presently attend the two schools.

The new chairman of governors, Sir Nigel Nicholls, currently fulfilling that role at Malvern Girls' College, said he was excited about the future.

He said: "We shall be taking what is best from the two schools and building something greater than the sum of the parts.

"Many parents want to be able to send their daughters to a girls-only school and Malvern St James will be the very best girls school in the area for both boarders and day girls."