Sixth-form students use art to explore the future of the planet

More than 180 sixth-form students from 64 colleges in England reflect on sustainability and the challenges facing the environment, in online exhibition Planet Future.

Finding a balance, by Trinity Fairman, from Windsor College, Berkshire

"The sustainability agenda has never been more important and the exhibition highlights students' hopes and fears about the future, while also showcasing their enormous creativity and innovation," said the UK government's former minister for skills, Alex Burghart, who launched the exhibition.

Bill Watkin, chief executive of the Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which coordinated the exhibition, said: "These works indicate how young people are feeling about our climate and the environment.

"It is imperative that we keep the arts in education secure and flourishing.

"If young people are to make a truly valuable contribution to society, even if they are to be successful scientists, engineers, doctors and technicians, they need to develop their creative skills, their artistic sensitivities and their ability to interact with others."

Here is a selection of work from the exhibition.

Botanical, by Dulcie Donaldson, from Cirencester College, Gloucestershire

Broken, by Eleigh-Mae Wood, from St John Rigby College, Wigan

Changing Landscape, by Sean Stobart, from Durham Sixth Form Centre

Decaying Future, by Bethany Lipscombe, from Long Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge

Doomsday, by Sai Earl-Beckley, from Durham Sixth Form Centre

Freeze, by Nathan Dixon, from Runshaw College, Leyland, Lancashire

In Our Hands?, by Bianca Osei-Owusu, from Christ the King Sixth Forms, south London

Last Plant Standing, by Ellie Johnston, from Wilberforce Sixth Form College, Hull

Marine Plastic Pollution, by Aliesha Bayliss, from King Edward VI College, Stourbridge, Dudley

Nature and Mankind, by Serge Wynne, from Peter Symonds College, Winchester, Hampshire

Plastic Growth, by Anna Kinstler, from Greenhead College, Huddersfield

Plastic in the Oceans, by Deividas Bukauskas, from Havering Sixth Form College, Hornchurch

Rising Sea, by Ellie Harling, from Worcester Sixth Form College

Save Ocean, by Salem Ahmed, from Bolton Sixth Form College

Submerge, by Sophie Ferguson, from St Vincent College, Hampshire

When Will the Fires Stop?, by Frankie Sharp, from the College of Richard Collyer, West Sussex

World in our Hands, by Victoria Ward, from the College of Richard Collyer, West Sussex

Yell-o, by Flossie Hills, from Esher Sixth Form College, Surrey

Planet Future runs until 15 August.

All photographs subject to copyright.