Luton Sixth Form College

Updated on Dec 07, 2023

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Established 1966 Principal Chris Nicholls Ofsted Reports Total enrollment 2,197 (2010)		Type Sixth form college DfE URN 130600 Tables Phone +44 1582 877500 Founded 1966
Location Bradgers Hill Road Luton Bedfordshire LU2 7EW England Address Bradgers Hill Rd, Luton LU2 7EW, UK Similar Barnfield College, University of Bedfords, The Chalk Hills Academy, Central Bedfords College, Icknield High School

From old to new luton sixth form college s 50th anniversary

Luton Sixth Form College is a sixth form college situated in Luton, Bedfordshire.

Admissions

It is noted for its multiethnic population; 62% of the College's students are from minority ethnic groups.

History

In 1904 Luton Council acquired the Modern School, which was a mixed-sex secondary school. This school moved into new buildings in Park Square in 1908 (now the site of the University of Bedfordshire). By 1919 the school had grown significantly and further expansion was needed. A new building was constructed at Alexandra Avenue for the girls (now the site of Denbigh High School). This school was named Luton High School for Girls; the boys continued at the old site in Park Square.

Grammar school

Again expansion meant that a new building was needed and, in 1938, the current college was built on the north side of Bradgers Hill Road as the new site for Luton Modern School. At that time, the school was on the northern edge of the developed area of Luton, with open countryside beyond. In 1944 the school became Luton Grammar School. A mixed-sex technical college remained at Park Square until it moved to Barnfield Avenue in the 1950s, as Luton Technical Grammar School, but it was often referred to as Luton Secondary Technical School or the Tech. The site is now home to Barnfield College.

Sixth Form College

In 1966 Luton Grammar School became the first Sixth Form College in the UK, drawing together the Sixth Forms from the three selective schools in Luton. Many of the staff from the previous sixth forms as well as the libraries moved to the Bradgers Hill Site.

Rebuild

In early 2007, the college announced plans to completely rebuild the site from ground up. The new £56million college opened to students on 7 September 2010 on the site of the old college's playing fields. Currently, phase two of the rebuild is taking place which includes the demolition of the old buildings and the construction of a new car park, a cricket pitch, football pitches and a path from the entrance to the site to the new college in their place.

College profile

Luton Sixth Form College takes a variety of people from different backgrounds into a variety of different courses.

Student numbers

In October 2006 the following breakdown of numbers was recorded:

As of 2010 the official student number, between the ages of 16-18, is 2197.

Office for Standards in Education Report

The Office for Standards in Education deemed the following to be the strengths and weaknesses of Luton Sixth Form College(quoting directly):

Key strengths

outstanding leadership and management

highly effective promotion of a multicultural ethos

overall, students achieving GCE grades higher than those predicted by their GCSE results, achieved by predicting lower grades at the beginning of the year.

fair standard of teaching and learning

very good specialist resources

thorough monitoring of student progress

excellent advice and guidance

excellent attendance and punctuality

relatively safe and secure environment.

What should be improved

key skills provision

effectiveness of group tutorials

sharing of teaching skills and best practice between subject teams

pass rates and the proportion of high grades achieved in some GCE AS and A-level subjects are significantly below the national average.

It gets A-levels slightly under the England average. There are only five places to take A-levels in Luton - the others are sixth forms at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, The Chalk Hills Academy, Stockwood Park Academy and Barnfield College.

Notable former pupils

David Arnold, composer, musical curator of the London 2012 Olympics

Philip Eden, weather forecaster (at the grammar school for four years)

Nadiya Hussain, winner of The Great British Bake Off

Sir Alec Jeffreys, discoverer of DNA fingerprinting (spent five years at the grammar school)

Steven M. Smith, Professor of Plant Genetics and Biochemistry and 'High-End Foreign Expert’ of the People’s Republic of China (spent five years at the grammar school)

David Renwick, TV writer (also three years at the grammar school)

Gavin Shuker Labour MP for Luton South, elected May 2010.

Steven West, Vice-Chancellor since 2008 of the University of the West of England

John D. Bernard, Businessman within the telecoms industry and Marketer of the Year in 2013

Sarfraz Manzoor, journalist and broadcaster

Conor Travers, the youngest Countdown champion winning at the age of 14 years

Jaymi Hensley, member of Union J.

Ian Thompson, 1974 Commonwealth Games Champion (still holds the record time) & 1974 European Marathon Champion

Luton Grammar School

Anthony Cave Brown, writer

Rt Rev Lawrence Ambrose Brown, Bishop of Birmingham from 1969–77

Ivor Clemitson, Labour MP from 1974-9 for Luton East

James Dyer, archaeologist, writer and author of the school centenary history Rhubarb and Custard (2004)

Dennis Farr CBE, Director from 1980-93 of the Courtauld Institute Galleries

Alfred Hayes (wrestler)

Colin Humphreys CBE, Goldsmiths' Professor of Materials Science from 1992-2008 at the University of Cambridge, and Director since 1994 of the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre

William Harry Manning FSA Emeritus Professor of Archaeology, Cardiff University, 1983-2000

Rear Adm Robin Musson CB, Chief of Naval Supply from 1991-3

Michael Peters (designer) OBE

David Stephen, Director from 1983-4 of the UK Immigrants Advisory Service (now the Immigration Advisory Service since 1993)

Des Turner, Labour MP (1997 to 2010) for Brighton Kemptown

Peter Rolfe Vaughan, Professor of Ground Engineering from 1987-94 at Imperial College London

Denis Wick, trombonist

Dudley Wood CBE, Secretary of the RFU from 1986–95, and President of Bedfordshire CCC from 1998-2006

Jon Shenton BDS Dental Surgeon 1993-1998

References

Luton Sixth Form College Wikipedia

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