The St Neots Sixth Form Centre is working on what it describes as “radical plans” for the development of post-16 education in the town.

Longsands and Ernulf academies joined the Astrea Trust in the summer and the centre will now be known as the Astrea Sixth Form, St Neots. Mark Taylor will head the sixth form.

The trust is working on predicted population growth, due to a huge house-building programme in and around St Neots, and wants more sixth form places to be available to cope with the numbers.

“At Astrea we believe in providing an education that inspires beyond measure, and we are delighted to be working with St Neots sixth form,” said Libby Nicholas.

She continued: “Last year’s results show an excellent level of progress being made by all students and this is a fantastic opportunity to enhance the educational opportunities for post 16 students in the town. We are currently finalising some exciting plans that will be rolled out in the coming months and look forward to these developments.”

Director of sixth form, Mark Taylor said: “This is an exciting opportunity to work creatively with Astrea to make bold decisions in the next 12-18 months that will shape the footprint for post-16 provision in St Neots for decades to come. I am confident that by working in collaboration with major stakeholders, such as students, parents, staff and the local authority we can provide a high-quality learning experience, within a state-of-the-art learning environment that will serve the population of not just St Neots but also the increasing numbers of students that come to us from further afield such as Huntingdon, Bedford, Peterborough and Milton Keynes.”

St Neots Sixth Form is an inclusive institution with more than 400 students. Currently it is providing more than 30 subjects, ranging from A-Levels in a wide variety of subjects including traditional subjects such as maths and English, sciences, humanities and arts, along with an exciting range of social science subjects including psychology, law and sociology. There are also vocational qualifications in computing, sport, business and social care. The sixth form also offers a one year Access Programme for students wising to improve GCSE results or develop their employee skills and more than 70 per cent of students go on to university courses. It has established links with St Neots Town Football Club, backed by Peterborough United and also with Stageworks Performing Arts Academy.

St Neots Sixth Form will be hosting an Open Evening on Thursday, November 15, from 6pm on the Longsands Academy site.