'It’ll all be shaped by the students' - New £9.6m sixth form opens in Corby

A new £9.6m sixth form opened its doors for the first time in Corby this morning.

The Corby Sixth Form, which is run by the group behind Tresham College, has been funded by a £9.6m grant from the Towns Fund, administered by the Government’s Department for Levelling Up.

It aims to be an ambitious and inclusive learning environment that will help build vital study and life skills for their students’ next steps.

Among the new pupils were Ellis Clipston and Ana Lazarevic, both 16, who joined the new sixth form centre after moving from Corby Technical School.

Ellis, who will study for A-levels in art, double English and media studies, said: "It's definitely lived up to our expectations. It's because the teachers are quite straight forward and interact with the students."

Ana will study fine art, psychology and Spanish A-levels.

She said: "It's right in the middle of Corby. You don't have to go far and we can go into town."

Ellis added: "It's nice not to have to wear a tie like at school. Not having to wear a uniform is an added bonus."

Work is still carrying on to finish the refurbishment of the old Corby Library and offices.

The sixth form currently has about 100 pupils but it has capacity for 650 to 700.

It offers a varied range of subjects for which they say their teachers are ‘subject specialists, focused towards teaching 16-19 year olds’, so students will benefit from their knowledge and experience.

All the usual subjects are on offer as well as a range of other A-levels including classical civilisation, Spanish, graphic communication and philosophy.

There is an on-site cafe, a library, computer suites and a range of personal support on offer.

The 4,000 sq ft centre includes a new entrance extension in Market Walk, more than 25 classrooms, state of the art science labs, resource centres and performance areas.

Robin Webber-Jones, principal of Tresham College and sixth forms, said: “This is a project that’s been about three years in the making where after various amounts of research, it became really apparent that an alternative academic offer for Corby would be a superb thing. It’s needed for young people, it’s needed for the community.

“This space became available and through some government funding we’ve been able to work really closely with NNC to regenerate and breathe new life into this building and create this magnificent facility.

“Over the next few years the sixth form will grow and thrive and become a bustling community and it’ll all be shaped by the students.”