North Yorkshire Council set to launch consultation on closure of sixth form at Boroughbridge High School

A report that has gone before the council’s two executive members for education recommends that the public is asked for their views on ending sixth form provision at the Wetherby Road site from August 2024.

The sixth form was suspended in September 2022 and no longer accepts new pupils.

According to the report, the number of pupils studying A levels dropped from 131 in 2013/14 to just 12 in 2021/22.

The council partly blames the fall in numbers due to a fall in the numbers of local children in the catchment area.

It adds that housebuilding in the area may have an impact on the size of the intake to the school but the impact is “expected to be slow”.

In May 2023, Ofsted gave a ‘requires improvement’ rating to the school, although it rated the quality of education as ‘good’.

Since 2016, the school has worked in collaboration with other schools in North Yorkshire so pupils can continue to study after they reach 16.

It is now in a federation with King James’s School in Knaresborough and there is a free daily minibus from Boroughbridge for pupils so they can attend there instead.

No jobs are expected to be lost at the high school if the sixth form is closed.

Should senior councillors decide to proceed with the consultation at a meeting next Tuesday, it’s expected to begin later this month and would last for six weeks.

The report adds that other school sixth forms in North Yorkshire have experienced similar challenges to those faced by Boroughbridge.

At Wensleydale School in Leyburn, the governing body agreed to suspend post 16 provision from September 2023 for up to two years.