The Sixth Form College Farnborough is a
sixth form college
A sixth form college is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 typically study for advanced school-level qualifications, such as A Levels, Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) and the International Baccalaureate Di ...
situated in
Farnborough, Hampshire
Farnborough is a town in northeast Hampshire, England, part of the borough of Rushmoor and the Farnborough/Aldershot Built-up Area. Farnborough was founded in Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name is ...
, England. It caters for around 3,915 students and admission is mostly from schools in the local areas of
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
and
Berkshire
Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...
. The college is often referred to as 'Farnborough Sixth' to differentiate it from
Farnborough College of Technology
Farnborough College of Technology is a college located in the town of Farnborough, Hampshire in the South East of England. Although primarily a further education college, Farnborough College of Technology also has a University Centre (Universit ...
.
Awards
In 2006, the college ranked third place in the school league table for Hampshire, achieving a higher ranking for A-Level results than several highly regarded independent and private schools in the area.
In 2007, the college was rated 'Outstanding' by
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, and it retains
Beacon Status as one of the country’s top sixth form colleges. The college was rated 'Outstanding' again in 2021.
In 2010, the college was one of the first colleges nationwide to gain the '
NFER
The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research organisation which gathers evidence and research to inform educational policy and school services. The foundation is not an examination board, however they provi ...
Research-Engaged Award'.
In 2012,
Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...
presented the college with one of the first
Duke of Edinburgh Award
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award (commonly abbreviated DofE) is a youth awards programme founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, that has since expanded to 144 nations. The awards recognise adolescents and young ...
Operating Licences, making the college a Directly Licensed Centre in the Duke of Edinburgh Award network.
The college has also attained awards including the '
Investors in People
Investors in People is a standard for people management, offering accreditation to organisations that adhere to the Investors in People Standard. From 1991 to January 2017, Investors in People was owned by the UK government. As of 1 February 20 ...
', 'Investors in Careers', 'Positive about Disabled People' and '
Fairtrade
A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...
' awards.
History
The college was founded as the Farnborough Grammar School in September 1936, when the Aldershot County High School outgrew its premises and the boys were relocated to Farnborough.
The Sixth Form College was created from 1974 to 1978, gradually enlarging as the number of Grammar School pupils reduced. Since being incorporated as a sixth form college in 1992, it has grown fast from 1,180 full-time students in 1992 to now having over 3000.
Dr
John J Guy was the principal from 1992 to 2010.
[ ] He served on a number of government committees, including the Tomlinson Committee on 14-19 reform, and in 2001 was awarded the
OBE for services to education.
He was succeeded as principal in September 2010 by the college's deputy principal, Simon Jarvis.
In February 2018, it was announced that Catherine Cole, Deputy Principal (Student Services), would succeed Simon Jarvis when he stepped down as Principal (but would continue as CEO of the Prospect Trust) in September 2018.
College facilities
The college has undergone a major building programme costing over £15 million. The first project was the Prospect Theatre and performing arts suite, which was opened by
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, (Edward Antony Richard Louis; born 10 March 1964) is a member of the British royal family. He is the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the youngest sibl ...
in 2000. Also, The Dame
Kelly Holmes
Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete.
Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set British ...
Sports Centre was opened on 25 April 2007 by the double Olympic gold medallist. The developments have also seen the construction of a brand new quad built in the centre of the college, and the Whitehouse Building which boasts an e-Assessment Centre - an IT centre for students to use. The latest building is the John Guy Building, a new block which replaced the former 1960s Scola block. The John Guy Building was opened by the
Secretary of State for Education
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. ...
,
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove (; born Graeme Andrew Logan, 26 August 1967) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Minister for Intergovernmental Relations since 2021. He has been Member of Parli ...
in 2010 and houses the physics, computing, arts and photographic departments. It was given a
BREEAM
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method), first published by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) in 1990, is the world's longest established method of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability of ...
'Excellent' rating. The college has three cafeterias: Café Direct, TimeOut and Shades. The college also has two large fields which are used for sports and recreational purposes. The Simon Jarvis lecture theatre attached to the Ranson building, was opened in September 2018.
Student Association
Every March, students elect a President and Vice President, via
Single Transferable Vote
Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...
, whom together lead the otherwise appointed committee to organise student affairs and social activities in and outside of the college, as well as charity events. The President and Vice President sit on the Academy Quality Council.
In October 2007, the 2007/2008 Student Association broke the college record, which had been set the previous year, for the most money raised in a single college day; the £1,800 that was raised eventually went to a variety of gene therapy charities through the 'Jeans for Genes' initiative. In 2007 the school undertook a massive project for
Red Nose Day
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
in which over a thousand students took to the field holding red paper above their heads, first making the shape of a nose and then a 6 (the logo of the college), filmed by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
from a helicopter.
The 2011/2012 Student Association raised over £20,000 for a variety of local charities over the academic year, the highest raised for charity by the college so far. The 2012/2013 Student Association reestablished the ''Student College Magazine'' and have forged links with other local colleges through a Battle of the Bands Competition.
The college has established links with Presbyterian Secondary Technical School,
. This project is called the Ghana Link and it aims to broaden students from both schools' horizons and develop a two way partnership that would be of benefit to both parties.
The college has a dedicated Film Production enrichment program which produces commercial and non-commercial films for outside companies and student film festivals.
In March 2000,
opened the new £2.5 million Performing Arts Centre incorporating the modern 300-seat Prospect Theatre and teaching suites for music, dance and drama.
One of the music enrichments making use of this facility is the biannual college Opera Project, where full-scale operas are performed by students. In 2006, the college staged ''
. A performance of
took place in July 2008.
CristalWeb is the college's web-based management information system that allows students and staff to see the data that the college holds on them. It is extensively used within the college, to pass messages from staff to students, take registers of classes, submit absence reasons, look up exam results, amend certificates of enrichment, and edit students' personal information. Students also have access
created by each subject; this is referred to as the Study Directory. Homework is assigned through
. The CristalWeb system has been operating since mid-2004.