Luton Sixth Form College
| Established | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Type | Sixth form college |
| Principal | Chris Nicholls |
| Location |
Bradgers Hill Road Luton Bedfordshire LU2 7EW England  Coordinates: 51°54′08″N 0°24′51″W / 51.9023°N 0.4142°W |
| DfE URN | 130600 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Gender | Both male and female |
| Ages | 16–19 |
| Former name | Luton Grammar School |
| Website | Luton SFC |
Luton Sixth Form College is a sixth form college situated in Luton, Bedfordshire.
Admissions
It is noted for its multiethnic population; 62% of the College's students are from minority ethnic groups.[1][2]
History
In 1904 Luton Council acquired the Modern School, which was a mixed-sex secondary school. This school moved into new buildings in Park Square in 1908 (now the site of the University of Bedfordshire). By 1919 the school had grown significantly and further expansion was needed. A new building was constructed at Alexandra Avenue for the girls (now the site of Denbigh High School). This school was named Luton High School for Girls; the boys continued at the old site in Park Square.
Grammar school
Again expansion meant that a new building was needed and, in 1938, the current college was built on the north side of Bradgers Hill Road as the new site for Luton Modern School. At that time, the school was on the northern edge of the developed area of Luton, with open countryside beyond. In 1944 the school became Luton Grammar School. A mixed-sex technical college remained at Park Square until it moved to Barnfield Avenue in the 1950s, as Luton Technical Grammar School, but it was often referred to as Luton Secondary Technical School or the Tech. The site is now home to Barnfield College.
Sixth Form College
In 1966 Luton Grammar School became the first Sixth Form College in the UK, drawing together the Sixth Forms from the three selective schools in Luton. Many of the staff from the previous sixth forms as well as the libraries moved to the Bradgers Hill Site.
Rebuild
In early 2007, the college announced plans to completely rebuild the site from ground up. The new £56million[3] college opened to students on 7 September 2010 on the site of the old college's playing fields. Currently, phase two of the rebuild is taking place which includes the demolition of the old buildings and the construction of a new car park, a cricket pitch, football pitches and a path from the entrance to the site to the new college in their place.[4]
College profile
Luton Sixth Form College takes a variety of people from different backgrounds into a variety of different courses.[1]
Student numbers
In October 2006 the following breakdown of numbers was recorded:
| Programme | Students |
|---|---|
| International Baccalaurate Year 1 | 22 |
| International Baccalaurate Year 2 | 23 |
| Advanced level single award (year 1) | 590 |
| Advanced level single award (year 2) | 590 |
| Advanced level double award (year 1) | 268 |
| Advanced level double award (year 2) | 179 |
| Intermediate level | 200 |
| Foundation level | 23 |
| Art Diploma | 10 |
| Total | 1905 |
As of 2010 the official student number, between the ages of 16-18, is 2197.[5]
Academic performance
Office for Standards in Education Report
The Office for Standards in Education deemed the following to be the strengths and weaknesses of Luton Sixth Form College(quoting directly):
- Key strengths
- outstanding leadership and management
- highly effective promotion of a multicultural ethos
- overall, students achieving GCE grades higher than those predicted by their GCSE results, achieved by predicting lower grades at the beginning of the year.
- fair standard of teaching and learning
- very good specialist resources
- thorough monitoring of student progress
- excellent advice and guidance
- excellent attendance and punctuality
- relatively safe and secure environment.
- What should be improved
- key skills provision
- effectiveness of group tutorials
- sharing of teaching skills and best practice between subject teams
- pass rates and the proportion of high grades achieved in some GCE AS and A-level subjects are significantly below the national average.
It gets A-levels slightly under the England average. There are only five places to take A-levels in Luton - the others are sixth forms at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, The Chalk Hills Academy, Stockwood Park Academy and Barnfield College.
Notable former pupils
- David Arnold, composer, musical curator of the London 2012 Olympics
- Philip Eden, weather forecaster (at the grammar school for four years)
- Nadiya Hussain, winner of The Great British Bake Off
- Sir Alec Jeffreys, discoverer of DNA fingerprinting (spent five years at the grammar school)
- Steven M. Smith, Professor of Plant Genetics and Biochemistry and 'High-End Foreign Expert’ of the People’s Republic of China (spent five years at the grammar school)
- David Renwick, TV writer (also three years at the grammar school)
- Gavin Shuker Labour MP for Luton South, elected May 2010.
- Steven West, Vice-Chancellor since 2008 of the University of the West of England
- John D. Bernard, Businessman within the telecoms industry and Marketer of the Year in 2013
- Sarfraz Manzoor, journalist and broadcaster
- Conor Travers, the youngest Countdown champion winning at the age of 14 years[6]
- Jaymi Hensley, member of Union J.
- Ian Thompson, 1974 Commonwealth Games Champion (still holds the record time) & 1974 European Marathon Champion
Luton Grammar School
- Anthony Cave Brown, writer
- Rt Rev Lawrence Ambrose Brown, Bishop of Birmingham from 1969–77
- Ivor Clemitson, Labour MP from 1974-9 for Luton East
- James Dyer, archaeologist, writer and author of the school centenary history Rhubarb and Custard (2004)
- Dennis Farr CBE, Director from 1980-93 of the Courtauld Institute Galleries
- Alfred Hayes (wrestler)
- Colin Humphreys CBE, Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science from 1992-2008 at the University of Cambridge, and Director since 1994 of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre
- William Harry Manning FSA Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, Cardiff University, 1983-2000
- Rear Adm Robin Musson CB, Chief of Naval Supply from 1991-3
- Michael Peters (designer) OBE
- David Stephen, Director from 1983-4 of the UK Immigrants Advisory Service (now the Immigration Advisory Service since 1993)
- Des Turner, Labour MP (1997 to 2010) for Brighton Kemptown
- Peter Rolfe Vaughan, Professor of Ground Engineering from 1987-94 at Imperial College London
- Denis Wick, trombonist
- Dudley Wood CBE, Secretary of the RFU from 1986–95, and President of Bedfordshire CCC from 1998-2006
- Jon Shenton BDS Dental Surgeon 1993-1998
References
- 1 2 College profile
- ↑ Leb Partnership. http://www.lebpartnership.co.uk/Luton%20VIth%20Form%20College%20-%20Activexpression%20research..pdf
- ↑ KSS Architects. http://www.kssgroup.com/projects/luton-sixth-college.php
- ↑ Baqus Construction Consultancy. http://www.baqus.co.uk/case_studies/entry/redevelopment_of_luton_sixth_form_college
- ↑ Department for Education. http://www.education.gov.uk/cgi-bin/performancetables/school_10.pl?Mode=Z&No=8218600&Type=LA&Begin=b&Num=821&Phase=2&Year=10&Base=a
- ↑ "Conor crowned Countdown champ". 5 March 2013. Retrieved 26 April 2013.