Teachers and pupils were celebrating last night after £3m was ploughed into setting up a sixth form for 200 students at The Cooper School in Bicester.
Oxfordshire County Council pledged the funding for the next three years and County Hall hopes to secure the extra £1m needed for the project from the Learning and Skills Council.
Work on the new sixth form block is expected to start later this year.
The school has pushed for a sixth form for about three years.
The move will give pupils a choice of Cooper, or Bicester Community College in Queen’s Lane for post-16 education in the town.
Currently, students who do notwant to go to the college have to travel to Kidlington, Banbury or Oxford to continue their studies.
Among the subjects on offer at Cooper will be traditional A-Levels, BTEC level three, engineering, creative and media, sports and games, business and finance, ICT and health and social care courses.
Cooper School headteacher Ben Baxter said: “This is fantastic news and a huge boost not just for the school but the whole of Bicester.
“I believe the expansion of sixth form education in Bicester will benefit everyone including local firms and businesses that will be able to employ more locally educated young people.
“This funding will allow us to build a new block, which will provide the accommodation required to educate these students.
“In terms of continuity of education it will allow the students who, at the moment, have to travel throughout Oxfordshire for post 16 education, to remain in Bicester.”
Mr Baxter said Bicester’s two secondary schools would work in partnership to offer pupils the widest range of subjects possible.
County councillor Michael Waine, cabinet member for schools improvement, said: “Having to travel out to a new school or college in a different town can be quite an upheaval for teenagers and sometimes a disincentive to continue their education, especially when friends have to go their separate ways.
“The creation of what would be the town’s second dedicated sixth form would provide educational stability and continuity for many more young people in Bicester.”
bicester@oxfordmail.co
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here