Spare a penny, gov? (2)

The news that Anglesey might have to scrap its sixth forms will come as no surprise to anyone who's endured Secondary sector education in the past thirty years. This isn't the first time we've written about the concept of education that is the sixth form, but the news from Anglesey suggests it deserves another look.

On the fact if it, it seems eminently sensible for youngsters to finish their secondary education at the school in which they start it.  After all, they know the staff, they know each other, they know the buildings.  And all that might be true if it were not for the fact that there has been a quiet revolution in 16 - 18 (or KS 5, as it's so quaintly called) education during the past twenty-five years.

Regular readers, both of them (thanks, mum), may not have attended school for a little while, so may well be unfamiliar with the changes that have been wrought.  So here's a potted history (without those annoying dates):

Old style sixth form: same subjects as ordinary school, just harder. Free periods (yippee!) and the chance to become a prefect.  Went home early at the start of the Xmas holiday.  Took exams at the end of a two-year stint and - on the basis of the results - went on to University, Poly or teacher training college.

Present day sixth form: burgeoning range of subjects including exotic names such as Psychology, Sociology, Law, Nuclear engineering, Build-Your-Own collider, NVQs, BTECs, IBs, et al. Study periods but no prefects at most schools. Sometimes go home early, but not often. Take exams in bite-sized chunks, leading to a system in which some students know they've gained an 'A' grade at 'A' level in the lower sixth. On the basis of their results, everyone goes to University, because some are crying out for students and will offer places to almost anyone.

It's blindingly obvious, then, that the government has contrived to make it as hard as possible for schools to keep their sixth forms and still offer anything like a decent range of subjects. In our area, only one school - Eirias - has the numbers to even begin to offer good sixth form provision. That may sound harsh, but the reality is that without really large numbers of students, time tabling becomes a nightmare because no two students want to study the same subjects at the same time.

All of which means that 16 - 18 year olds would almost certainly be better served by the abolition of sixth forms, providing they were able to reach a decent FE college fairly easily.  Of course, it's an emotive issue when councils start warning about closing sixth forms, but in the long run that can be a very good thing for the students. And after all;  surely it's the students who matter most?