Before 2020, at least 35 students a year, and in some years nearly 50 students, were leaving the colleges at the end of Year 11 and enrolling at the Sixth Form Centre at Les Varendes. But at the start of this current academic year only 21 students made the same move.
The decline in transfers from the grant-aided colleges is one of the reasons for a recent fall in the number of students at the States sixth form.
‘These answers paint a stark picture,’ said Lindsay de Sausmarez, whose Rule 14 questions were submitted to the Education Committee last month.
‘When the Sixth Form Centre was an integrated part of an 11-18 school, its curriculum choice attracted a significant percentage of students from the colleges. However, that number is falling markedly.
‘As student numbers across the island seem to be declining faster than previously projected, the withdrawal of the International Baccalaureate for the incoming Year 12 could prove to be a tipping point that causes a negative feedback loop, where fewer sixth formers move to the Sixth Form Centre, requiring curriculum choice to shrink, leading to fewer sixth formers, and so on.’
Education’s figures showed that the percentage of students moving out of the grant-aided colleges and into the Sixth Form Centre after their GCSEs reached a peak of 29% six years ago. This year the figure fell to just 13%.
After taking into account movements to The Guernsey Institute, formerly the College of Further Education, the percentage of students leaving the grant-aided colleges for the States sector at the end of Year 11 has fallen from 37% to 22%.
Blanchelande College re-opening its sixth form in 2020 has played a part.
But there has also been an increase in the number of students moving the other way – into the colleges – at the end of Year 11.
Between 2016 and 2020, there was no year in which more than one student left a States school to enrol in one of the colleges’ sixth forms. However, seven students made that move at the start of the current academic year.
Education also projected that the number of students in the Sixth Form Centre would decline sharply over the next few years.
‘I was struck by how few students are anticipated at the Sixth Form Centre in about a decade’s time – from 394 today to just 319,’ said Deputy de Sausmarez.
‘Most standalone sixth form centres have at least 1,000 students. I’m aware of none with fewer than 700 students because then they're not economically viable.
‘It’s not just about costs, but about educational viability, as the answers to my questions show.’
The Sixth Form Centre is moving from Les Varendes, where it is adjacent to the 11-16 school, to La Mare de Carteret, where it will operate as a standalone facility.
In addition to a one-year pause in the IB qualification from September, Education is withdrawing A-level drama for Year 12 students, although it said ‘the breadth of curriculum offer is the same’ as when the Sixth Form Centre was part of an 11-18 school at Les Varendes.
Education president Andrea Dudley-Owen said the Sixth Form Centre received applications from 223 students to start Year 12 in September, and made 208 offers.
‘Of the offers, 178 students currently attend States high schools and 30 currently attend grant-aided colleges or are from elsewhere, e.g. moving to Guernsey,’ said Deputy Dudley-Owen.
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