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28
Dec 2023
Consultation on whether to permanently close Boroughbridge sixth form
Boroughbridge High School could close its sixth form permanently, depending on the outcome of a consultation requested by its governors.
North Yorkshire Council is due to discuss the proposal to change the age range at the school by closing the sixth form at a meeting on Tuesday, January 9. If approved, the new arrangements would come into effect on August 31, 2024.
The sixth form at Boroughbridge High School has been temporarily suspended since September 2022.
The school has worked in collaboration with other schools since 2016 to try to maintain sixth-form provision.
Initially, it worked with Easingwold and Thirsk Schools, but this collaboration ended when Easingwold School joined the Outwood multi-academy trust. Since then, the school has collaborated with King James’s School in Knaresborough, and the two schools federated in January 2021.
But due to the demographics of the area, pupil numbers at Boroughbridge High have decreased by more than 40% – from 756 in 2013-14 to 438 in 2022-23. During the same period, numbers in the sixth form have plummeted by 97%, from 131 to just 4, according to figures published by the council.
Consequently, the federated governing board of Boroughbridge High School and King James’s School suspended the sixth form at Boroughbridge from September 2022.
The latest request by the board would make that arrangement permanent.
A council document published ahead of the meeting notes that “the school population is now stabilising and is projected to increase in future”, partly due to housebuilding in the area. But the school’s the governing body does not feel that numbers would be large enough to attract enough government funding that would enable a financially viable sixth form.
The consultation as proposed would open on January 19 and close on March 1, and a final decision on the sixth form’s fate would be made by North Yorkshire Council on May 28 or June 18.
Read more:
- Ofsted says Boroughbridge High School 'requires improvement'
- Boroughbridge High School agrees to close sixth form
- Knaresborough's King James's School rated 'good' by Ofsted
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