A LICHFIELD secondary school is launching a review which could see the closure of its Sixth Form provision.
Nether Stowe School has launched a consultation on the “advantages and disadvantages” of continuing with post-16 provision.
In a letter to parents seen by Lichfield Live, headteacher Kirsty Jones said the numbers joining the Sixth Form had not increased as anticipated, with an average class size of just five creating a “significant financial burden on the school’s budget”.
She said:
“When the school joined the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership family of schools, the trust bought wholeheartedly into the vision of maintaining an 11-18 offer.
“We understand the small size of the Sixth Form at Nether Stowe School is, for many students and their families, its appeal. However, cuts to educational budgets over the past few years mean that maintaining the courses we would like to offer is challenging.
“School leaders have worked hard with recent cohorts to grow the Sixth Form. The numbers have not increased as planned.
“Growing – or even maintaining – the offer is not feasible without increased numbers.
“Unfortunately, the low uptake at the start of this academic year and low rate of applications this year has meant we must revisit what our provision should look like in future years.
“We currently have less than 25 students in Year 12 which means that our average class size is five students. This constitutes a significant financial burden on the school’s budget.”
The consultation on the future of Sixth Form provision will begin tomorrow (27th February) and run until 27th March.
Ms Jones – who was appointed as headteacher in November – added:
“We know that this consultation will cause anxiety for the current Year 12 students, and we wish to stress that we are committed to these students and will ensure that these students are able to complete their chosen courses.
“It is not the intention to fully close the Sixth Form in September as Nether Stowe School was chosen by these students and we will ensure that they are able to complete their studies as planned.
“We will ensure that these students, the pride of our school, are supported to continue to their next steps.
“In the situation where Nether Stowe is unable to provide them with the teaching that they require to complete their courses we will be leaning into our network of partnership schools as well as other local providers to ensure that they can complete their education.
“A large part of the consultation will consider our responsibility to the current Year 11 students who have applied to study here in September 2025. We will take account of their views and other possible options for their post-16 education.
“We must stress however that currently too few have applied to the Sixth Form for it to be a viable option.”
