Feedback invited on plan to close two sixth forms

Consultations over plans to close two "unsustainable" sixth forms in Nottinghamshire are under way.

An academy trust wants to stop its post-16 provision at both The Dukeries Academy, in Ollerton, and Sutton Community Academy, in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

It said low student numbers had prompted the proposals.

Separate consultations opened on Monday and are due to run until 13 January.

Plans to close the provision at The Dukeries when the current Year 13 students have finished their courses were first unveiled in June.

After 1 September 2025, the school will be for pupils aged 11 to 16 only.

For the sixth form at Sutton Community Academy, the proposal is to shut it a year later when the current Year 12 students have seen their studies through to the end of Year 13.

No students would be recruited into the sixth form in September 2025.

Ged Rae, executive principal at Academy Transformation Trust, said: "Student numbers in The Dukeries Academy and Sutton Community Academy sixth forms have been unsustainably low for some time.

"The closure of the sixth forms will provide the financial stability needed to maintain and enhance our current 11-16 provision."

The decision to close The Dukeries Academy's sixth-form was criticised by its governing board in June, which described it as "unacceptable" and said it had been made without consultation.

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