Purpose

Sixth form provision at the school has been
limited since the decision in 2016 to cease offering A Levels/Level
3 qualifications.
The Sixth Form currently consists of 0 students. With a large
number of students seeking 16-19 provision outside of Leominster,
in recent years the school has been able to offer only a limited
number of subjects.
With reduced Sixth Form numbers, the proportion of the budget
required from the 11-16 funding to maintain the sixth form is
increasing to an unsustainable level.
An average sixth form college has around 1000 students, while an
average school sixth form has approximately 200. As a result,
economies of scale apply which means it is more expensive per
student for schools to provide sixth form provision than a sixth
form or further education college.
The Department for Education (DfE) recognises that sixth forms with
less than 200 students are at risk of not being financially
viable.
The total number of students in the 6th Form over the last five
years is shown in the table below:

2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23
18 20 18 14 0

As a result, the school is currently subsidising the sixth form
from other funding streams, such as that for 11 to 16 year olds,
which is not sustainable.
The school’s focus will be on continuing to improve the
quality of education in Years 7 to 11.