Rochdale Sixth Form College
Encyclopedia
Rochdale Sixth Form College is a sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...

 opened in September 2010 under the Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future
Building Schools for the Future is the name of the previous UK Government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England. The program is very ambitious in its costs, timescales and objectives, with politicians from all English political parties supportive of the principle but...

 program. The sixth form college campus is situated next to Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...

, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, England, forming a further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...

 quarter in the town. Rochdale is the first sixth form college to be opened in the UK since 2004, and the 94th sixth form college in the country. The college is a member of the Sixth Form Colleges Forum (SFCF).

History

From the 1970s to the 1990s, most secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...

s in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale
The Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England. It is named after its largest town, Rochdale, but spans a far larger area which includes the towns of Middleton, Heywood, Littleborough and Milnrow, and the village of Wardle.The borough was...

 offered sixth form
Sixth form
In the education systems of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and of Commonwealth West Indian countries such as Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, Jamaica and Malta, the sixth form is the final two years of secondary education, where students, usually sixteen to eighteen years of age,...

 education such as A-levels to school leavers. In Addition, Hopwood Hall College also offered a provision of sixth form courses to students.

By the 2000's, sixth form students studying in Rochdale Borough were achieving below the national average in terms of A Level results. As well as this, many local school leavers were opting to study sixth form education at schools or colleges outside of Rochdale borough, particularly at dedicated sixth form college
Sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belize, Hong Kong or Malta where students aged 16 to 18 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A-levels, or school-level qualifications such as GCSEs. In Singapore and India, this is...

s in nearby areas such as Bury
Bury
Bury is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the River Irwell, east of Bolton, west-southwest of Rochdale, and north-northwest of the city of Manchester...

 and Oldham
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...

. In a local area review of post-16 education in Rochdale in 2004, the Learning and Skills Council
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families in England...

 proposed the construction of a new sixth form college in Rochdale borough. Rochdale's MP, Paul Rowen
Paul Rowen
Paul John Rowen is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament for Rochdale from 2005 until the 2010 general election, when he was defeated by Labour Party candidate Simon Danczuk.-Early life and career:...

, along with local student, Sajid Suleman, launched a campaign in 2006 for a new sixth form college to be built in Rochdale to stop the "brain drain". After funding for the new college became available in 2007, the Department for Children, Schools and Families
Department for Children, Schools and Families
The Department for Children, Schools and Families was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education...

 formally approved the construction of the new college in August 2008.

The £26 million new sixth form college campus was subsequently constructed next to Hopwood Hall College in Rochdale
Rochdale
Rochdale is a large market town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the foothills of the Pennines on the River Roch, north-northwest of Oldham, and north-northeast of the city of Manchester. Rochdale is surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the Metropolitan...

 town. Rochdale Sixth Form College opened in September 2010, and is now the primary provider of sixth form education in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. Since the opening of the college, most (but not all) secondary schools in the borough have ceased to offer sixth form courses for students. Hopwood Hall College has also discontinued its provision of A-levels, concentrating instead on offering vocational further education for school leavers, as well as courses for adult learners.

Today

Opened in September 2010, Rochdale Sixth Form College offers a range of A-level courses to students from Rochdale and the wider borough. Facilities at the college campus include a theatre, learning resource and study centre, ICT
Information and communication technologies
Information and communications technology or information and communication technology, usually abbreviated as ICT, is often used as an extended synonym for information technology , but is usually a more general term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of...

 suites and Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...

 zones, science laboratories, a theatre and drama studio, a specialist dance studio, a music recording studio and editing suite, specialist art and design studios, a restaurant and Internet café
Internet cafe
An Internet café or cybercafé is a place which provides internet access to the public, usually for a fee. These businesses usually provide snacks and drinks, hence the café in the name...

, a fitness suite and a multi-faith prayer room.
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