There are currently more than 150,000 students aged 16 to 18 studying at a Sixth Form College in England. All of them have a unique story to tell. Sixth Form Colleges have always had a reputation for supporting high achieving students from prosperous parts of the country to progress to higher education and beyond. But the aim of this report is to tell some of the untold stories – stories of the many disadvantaged young people that have been inspired and enabled to progress as a result of their experience at Sixth Form College.

Sixth Sense shows that despite enrolling young people with lower levels of prior educational attainment and higher levels of disadvantage, Sixth Form Colleges still outperform school and academy sixth forms on a range of measures (including qualification success rates and Ofsted inspection grades) and send more young people to higher education than independent schools. The report also shows that almost one third of Sixth Form College students that progressed to higher education in 2011 were from the least advantaged areas of the country. Six case studies of former Sixth Form College students that have overcome economic disadvantage to progress to higher education are included in the report.

But despite being engines of progression and social mobility, the Government continues to actively promote the establishment of new academies and free schools, whilst offering no equivalent support for the creation of new Sixth Form Colleges. Schools and academies receive more funding per student than Sixth Form Colleges and are graded by Ofsted using a lower inspection benchmark. The Sixth Form College sector is also the only part of the entire education system that is not entitled to receive any form of publically-funded improvement support. The report concludes by urging the Government to fund, inspect and support Sixth Form Colleges in the same way as other providers operating in the 16-18 market.

Sixth Sense has been produced by the Sixth Form Colleges’ Association (SFCA), the organisation that represents and supports official Sixth Form Colleges (SFCs) in England. SFCF believe that every young person in England should have the opportunity to study at a Sixth Form College. We actively campaign to increase the number of SFCs, particularly in areas where there is currently no Sixth Form College provision.

For more information about the report, or the broader work of SFCA, please contact James Kewin, Deputy Chief Executive at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sixth Sense full version:

Click here to download a copy of Sixth Sense: How Sixth Form Colleges help students progress to higher education and beyond

Additional ALPs data 

Sixth Sense abridged version:

Sixth Sense - Web PDF Version

Sixth Sense - Artwork PDF

Sixth Sense - Print Instructions (use the artwork PDF if you wish to print the report)

Sixth Sense in the news:

'I'm not sure how many more cuts we can take' - TES 22 June 2012.

Sixth-form colleges fear for their future - FE Week 29 June 2012.

Why Sixth Form Colleges go to the top of the class - The Times 16th August 2012