Guernsey secondary education changes delayed to 2025

Plans for a new sixth form centre and to close La Mare de Carteret High School have been delayed by a year.

Education President Andrea Dudley-Owen said the news was "disappointing" but the delays were mainly because of "significant pressures outside of the committee's control".

The news of a delay also comes with a warning there may "be additional costs" because of the timeline change.

The new secondary education model had been due to start by September 2024.

As a result of the changes, La Mare de Carteret High School will remain open for an extra year until July 2025, with the school's last intake of Year 7 students in September, for the 2022/23 academic year as planned.

The Sixth Form Centre will remain at Les Varendes until July 2025.

The Committee for Education, Sport and Culture said the decision to delay was made after talking to the construction industry.

It said contractors bidding for the post-16 campus construction said: "The timeline would be tight so that any delay due to circumstances outside of their control such as adverse weather, sourcing materials or access to specialist equipment could result in missing the handover date."

The cost of maintaining the current system for an extra year was estimated at £1.6m and the realisation of £1.2m in savings due to be made would be delayed, the committee said.

Deputy Dudley-Owen said: "While incurring any additional cost, or a reduction in realised savings, is not unimportant, in the wider context it must be remembered that the combined build programmes of the new facilities for The Guernsey Institute and reorganisation of secondary education is a £100m initiative and contingency costs have been budgeted for in the capital sum approved by the States.

"It is much more important that we get it right rather than rushing to meet an arbitrary deadline and introducing unnecessary risks."

Analysis from BBC Guernsey political reporter John Fernandez

Another delay for parents pupils and staff in what has been a decade-long series of promises from a sequence of committees.

That's the tangible impact of this announcement.

The political impact of this will as expected draw the same old battle lines.

Those opposing the reforms will shout we told you so, while the committee leading the changes are firm in their stance that these potential delays were unavoidable.

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