General Student News
Plans for 500 more pupils at 6th form
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| College principal John Tredwell. |
WORCESTER Sixth Form College could cater for an extra 500 pupils if ambitious expansion plans get the go-ahead.
The college is currently putting together designs for a new modern block and a remodelling of its existing building - set to cost tens of millions of pounds.
The plans are a replacement for a previous £7 million scheme which was scrapped because it did not comply with fire, environmental or sustainability building regulations.
If given permission, the college, in Spetchley Road, would be able to cater for 2,000 students including pupils from the thousands of new homes which could be built over the next 15 years as part of the regional spatial strategy.
College principal John Tredwell said the college, which has 1,500 to 1,600 students, was already overcrowded and a growing Worcester would make the problem worse.
He said: "We know they are intending to build 10,000 new houses in the next 15 or 20 years. About half of those will be very close to us here.
"We expect that would generate two or three hundred students for us."
Mr Tredwell said once the designs were finished the college would ask the Learning and Skills Council to fund the majority of the project and apply for planning consent from Worcester City Council.
He said: "We have had informal discussions with the city council and it's moving along positively."
However, Sean Devlin, the head teacher of Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College, reacted furiously to the news. His school was denied a sixth form by the Worcester city review group which said no extra provision was needed.
Mr Devlin said: "If this is the case it makes a sham of the whole city review that was carried out. That said, very clearly there was no need for additional places for sixth form in the city.
"In my opinion that review was not objective and didn't look at the real issues. We wrote to the review panel and said the spatial strategy will lead to more places.
"We were told it wasn't in the remit for them to examine that far ahead."
Mr Devlin said he still wants to see Worcester students given the choice of continuing post-16 at school or going to college - as happens in other parts of Worcestershire.
At the moment only the Sixth Form College and Worcester Technology College take sixth-formers in Worcester.
8:14am Wednesday 30th April 2008
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