Preston sixth form to close over falling numbers

The sixth form department at a Preston school is set to close – because not enough pupils are choosing to study there.

Moor Park High School and Sixth Form plans to stop teaching A-Level and equivalent courses from the summer of 2026.

The move is expected to be given the green light by Lancashire County Council’s cabinet at a meeting next week.

If approved, it means existing year 12 pupils will be able to progress to year 13 in September in order to complete their studies at the school – but no new students will be admitted to year 12 at that point.

The Moor Park Avenue facility plans to use the space created by the closure of the sixth form to expand the number of pupils it can accommodate in the 11-16 age range.

Whilst the school – which is rated ‘good’ by Ofsted – has struggled to attract sixth form students, it is oversubscribed for admissions to year 7.

Currently, 112 pupils are admitted annually at the age of 11 – a figure which would be able to rise to 130 from this September if the phased closure of the sixth form goes ahead.

In the current academic year, 43 students are enrolled at its sixth from – down from a recent peak of 55 in 2016.

It means that only one of the post-16 courses being offered – year 12 A-Level Business Studies – currently has more than 10 pupils in the class.

Some of the other 14 subject areas are based around classes with as few as between one and three students, which the schools says “does not make [for] a vibrant learning experience”.

The low numbers are also deemed to be making the sixth form provision financially unviable, with a £177,000 cross-subsidy required from the funding received for the 11-16-year-olds at the school.

Cabinet members at next Thursday’s meeting will be advised by education bosses  to give the go-ahead to the closure.

They will be told that there are several other sixth form options available in the area – including Cardinal Newman College and Preston College, both around a mile away, and Runshaw College in Leyland.   Around 80 percent of Moor Park students already opt to move elsewhere for their A-Level studies.

A public consultation was carried out during the spring into the proposed sixth form shutdown, but only one response – an objection from the parent of a pupil currently in the lower reaches of the school – was received.