Too many students at Brighton College of Technology bunk off lessons or drop out of their courses, inspectors have warned.

A report by the Further Education Funding Council criticised poor attendance, punctuality and retention rates at the college and said not enough was being done to improve the situation.

The retention rate, the number of students who finish their courses, is below the national average for similar establishments and even below the average for the 50 colleges in the most deprived areas. The attendance rate at the college is 72 per cent. The national average is 78 per cent.

Inspectors found more than 40 per cent of students taking GCSE maths dropped out and in one lesson they observed, only four out of 11 pupils attended.

In half the humanities lessons observed there was less than 50 per cent attendance.

The report said lecturers did not always ask late students to explain themselves.

However, inspectors said the college had taken big steps forward in improving academic standards and 64 per cent of lessons were judged to be good or outstanding.

Inspectors also criticised poor access to computers for some students, insufficient careers guidance, poor student support, limited range of basic skills provision, cramped conditions in some classrooms and inconsistent management practice.

Judy Parkes, college marketing director, said an action plan had been drawn up to deal with the issues raised and a quality director appointed.

She said: "Many of our students have got other responsibilities like work or families in their lives and that can make them late or drop out."