Record application levels for Wirral’s Sixth Form College

9 September 2013

Wirral’s Sixth Form College has announced that it received a record number of applications for the new academic year and has also delivered some of the best A Level results in the country, with leading performances in French, Business and Biology.

High levels of applications have resulted in record recruitment this month. The 10% rise in applications comes despite the overall cohort for Wirral student this academic year decreasing.

Birkenhead Sixth Form College Principal Kathryn Podmore said the increase was down to a number of factors.

“We are investing heavily in new facilities and support systems to help our students achieve their best possible grades and offer the widest range of A Level courses on the Wirral. Students and their parents are recognising that as a specialist Sixth Form College, everything here – from the teaching and curriculum to facilities and IT – is focused solely on sixth form study.

“Unlike other A Level providers, we can offer any combination of courses that a student wishes to undertake and despite the size of the college, we provide expert pastoral support for each individual. We treat the students as adults but maintain a strong ethos of care and guidance, which we know parents and guardians appreciate.”

Mrs Podmore said the record number of applications, from schools across Wirral, follows the College’s best ever year for exam results.

“We achieved a 99% pass rate, but significantly our Value Added statistics – provided by data expert ALPS (A Level Performance System) – reveal that we outperform 78% of providers nationally, with 13 of our courses in the top 10% of all provision.

“These courses include French (top 1 pc), Business (top 4 pc), Biology (top 5 pc), as well as Maths and Psychology. ALPS, which has analysed over 1.2million exam entries, is one of the best independent benchmarks of excellence in A Level performance.

“We are therefore delighted that many of our courses are up there amongst the best in the country –further confirming our position as a Centre of Academic Excellence. Students can achieve their aspirations here, whether they wish to go on to University, further education or straight into the workplace.”

Birkenhead Sixth Form College is one of only 94 specialist Sixth Form Colleges in England and Wirral’s largest A Level provider, with over 1,200 students and more than 60 A and AS Level courses on offer.