Teachers have been left trying to claim back unpaid wages after another private school closed.

Staff and pupils at Bodiam Manor School, an independent co-ed day prep school at Bodiam, near Robertsbridge, East Sussex, found out the school was going into administration last week.

The closure of the school has been blamed on falling pupil numbers, which stood at just 100 for this September.

The school has admitted to unions it will not be able to pay staff for work already done or give them pay in lieu of notice.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) said it was concerned that new staff, including members of the management team who had been appointed to start this September, would also no longer have a job to go to.

Angela Turner, the union’s regional officer for East Sussex, who represents six staff at the school, said: “ATL is shocked and saddened that the school is closing and we feel for the pupils, staff and parents.

“We are angry that the school has closed without notice, leaving the loyal staff high and dry, without a job and out of pocket.”

She added that most vacancies for the new academic year had been filled already.

The news comes shortly after a struggling private school in Bristol announced it would close, following the nuns who owned it refusing a rescue deal from an academy chain.

The Sisters of Mercy turned down a plan from Oasis Community Learning to turn St Ursula’s School into a non-denominational academy.