Winsford Academy has made the ‘difficult decision’ to suspend its sixth form provision from September 2016 due to funding cuts.
The Grange Lane school will not be offering Year 12 study to the current Year 11 group from September this year and will revert to being an 11-16 school at the start of the academic year in 2016.
Principal Andrew Taylor-Edwards told the Chronicle that while the proportion of students opting to stay on for sixth form study has remained constant, recent cuts to funding have put ‘increasing pressure on the financial viability of providing our small post-16 provision’.
He said: “Following discussions with the governing body and our sponsors, I have made the difficult decision to suspend sixth form provision at the Winsford Academy with full effect from September 2016.
“It is well documented that the viability of small sixth forms is becoming threatened due to funding cuts.
“We have always prided ourselves in our ability to offer a small sixth form provision, allowing students an intimate setting where every student is known and where class sizes are small.
“We will, of course, remain fully committed to our current Year 12 students who will start their second year of sixth form study from September 2015.”
Mr Taylor-Edwards – who was appointed principal in 2011 – added that representatives from Sir John Deane’s College, Mid Cheshire College, South Cheshire College and Reaseheath College were invited into the academy last Friday (January 9) to provide Year 11 students with support.
Those pupils will continue to have one-to-one careers guidance meetings within the academy.
“We understand this news is unsettling but we are fortunate to be surrounded by excellent sixth form provision and we will make sure no student is disadvantaged by this decision,” he said.
The Fallibroome Multi-Academy Trust took over sponsorship of Winsford Academy in September, after the Department for Education withdrew academy chain E-ACT’s right to sponsor the school in February.
