Pupils toasting GCSE results barred from sixth form

Head teacher Peter Gilbride says a lack of applications for Year 12 places was behind the decision

Teenagers celebrating their GCSE results have been told the sixth form at their Warwickshire school is shut to them.

Aylesford School has suspended recruitment for students hoping to join for Year 12, it has confirmed.

A "lack of applications" has been cited as the reason for the move, in a statement released by the head teacher at the school in Tapping Way, Warwick.

Pupils preparing for their second year in the sixth form have been told they are unaffected by the issue.

One parent, Siobhan McKenna, said she was "really disappointed" in the announcement, which comes after her daughter's school career was interrupted by the pandemic, teacher strikes and fears about Raac, which led to the closure of half the school's buildings in 2023.

'Icing on the cake'

However, head teacher Peter Gilbride said the school was in talks with Warwick's Myton School, which is set to offer courses to many of the affected Year 11 pupils.

"Over the next year, we will relaunch and rebrand our Sixth Form in the hope of being able to run a viable Sixth Form in the future," said Mr Gilbride.

The school recently launched a sports scholarship in honour of former pupil student and England footballer, Jess Carter.

Ms McKenna described Thursday's announcement as "the icing on the cake".

"Here we are in Year 11, when they have finally finished their GCSEs and some of that cohort were really hoping to go to sixth form and now that's been shut as well," she said.

"It's just unbelievable what's gone on at the school.

"The question is, why was it not mentioned before? Why today of all days was that the day they chose to drop that bomb?

"It seems really, really unfair. Especially after the applications for anywhere else in the area closed months ago.

"There's nothing they can do now, they're having to scrabble around trying to find somewhere."