• 'No need to finish your A-levels,' universities tell school pupils

    School pupils are being told by universities that they don’t need to finish their A-levels, it has been claimed. Pupils are “increasingly the subject of persuasive strategies” from universities, according to Bill Watkin, the chief executive of the Sixth-Form Colleges Association. Some are even encouraging pupils to quit school early and take up foundation degrees.…

    17.10 Jun. 13th, 2018 | News

  • Schools open 3-year sixth forms to boost pupil numbers

    Schools have begun to offer three-year stints in sixth form to pupils whose grades are too low to start A-levels or BTECs. At least three schools and one academy trust have set up a “transitionary” year 12 in which pupils with grades below C at GCSE can take level one or level two courses, before…

    5.00 Oct. 9th, 2017 | News

  • Small school sixth form judicial review costs taxpayer £76,000

    A legal challenge brought against the Department for Education over the opening of a small-school sixth form has cost tax payers over £75,000. The case, which was settled out of court at the very last minute, ended with the DfE paying out £60,000 to cover the Association of Colleges’ costs – on top of the…

    17.10 Aug. 21st, 2017 | News

  • Sixth form funding 'tight', admits Nick Gibb

    In a departure from the government’s usual firm dismissals on a lack of funding, Nick Gibb has admitted that sixth forms face “tight” resources. The schools minister was questioned in parliament this week over the funding given to schools for 16 to 19-year-olds compared with that for younger pupils and those in higher education. According…

    5.00 Jan. 16th, 2017 | News

  • Sixth-form colleges - not school sixth forms - are the route to social mobility

    Education Datalab’s recent report on post-16 education has got it wrong, says James Kewin. It is a myth that the best way to improve the life chances of disadvantaged young people is to increase the number of school sixth forms. Last month, Education Datalab produced a report – handily summarised by Schools Week – entitled…

    5.00 Jan. 16th, 2017 | Opinion

  • First sixth form college and academy trust merger planned

    The first merger between a sixth-form college and an academy trust is on the cards after the submission of plans for a “pioneering” partnership. Ninestiles academy trust, which runs seven academies across Birmingham and Solihull, hopes to bring The Sixth Form College Solihull into the trust from the start of the next academic year. If…

    9.00 Dec. 15th, 2016 | News

  • Forget grammars! Sixth-form colleges are engines of social mobility

    The government should consider how greater investment in sixth-form colleges could drive up standards, says James Kewin Sixth-form colleges share the government’s ambition to create an education system that works for everyone, not just the privileged few. But the plans unveiled earlier this month to achieve this are flawed and incomplete. Flawed because they overplay…

    5.00 Sep. 24th, 2016 | Opinion

  • Sixth-form colleges warned not to rush into multi-academy trusts

    Sixth-form colleges should not rush into partnerships with schools to create all-through academy trusts, a sector leader has warned. Schools Week revealed last week how 60 of the 93 sixth-form colleges in England had told the government they were interested in becoming academies. Their interest follows a rule change that allowed the institutions to avoid paying VAT…

    5.00 Jun. 27th, 2016 | News

  • How can we get young people eating healthy food at lunchtime?

    What’s your research about? The factors that underpin young people’s food and drink purchases in and around schools. The study, which was funded by Food Standards Scotland, looked at seven state secondary schools in Scotland, where pupils were allowed to leave the grounds at lunchtime. The schools were in five local education authority areas with…

    6.00 May. 15th, 2016 | Opinion

  • Be functional, not faddish, and keep it simple

    New school buildings are a difficult brief: they must be flexible, functional, welcoming and poised for change. Educators can meet that challenge if they start with a checklist of do’s and don’ts, says Craig Smailes Schools are, by their nature, subject to changing needs. Populations change, educational methods evolve and technology continues to alter the…

    5.00 May. 15th, 2016 | Opinion

  • Where pupils live affects their A level choices, data reveals

    Regional differences in post-16 provision could affect young people’s chances of getting into top universities, data released today shows. Analysis by Education Datalab’s chief statistician Dave Thompson, based on children who completed GCSEs in 2011, found that pupils at secondary schools without sixth forms were less likely to get places at Russell Group universities. A…

    8.04 Aug. 19th, 2015 | Exam results, News