Why The Deepings School is not opening its sixth form to Year 12s this year

A school has said it will not teach a lower sixth form curriculum this year because there wasn’t enough interest in its courses.

Parents contacted LincsOnline on Friday after The Deepings School sent emails saying the curriculum for Year 12 - the lower sixth - would not go ahead.

Now the school in Park Road, Deeping St James, which is run by Anthem Trust, has issued a statement in the name of the head teacher, Kirstie Johnson, which says although sixth form provision is not closed, low numbers mean new post-16 courses this year are not viable.

Only 12 children had selected The Deepings School as their Year 12 sixth form provider for the new academic year.

The school’s statement said: “We have become aware of speculation in the local community and on social media regarding our sixth form and would like to state categorically that there is no truth to rumours that we have closed our sixth form provision.

“The school has a longstanding sixth form provision and celebrated excellent academic outcomes for our Year 13 students this summer.

“Last week we had to make the difficult decision not to run a Year 12 curriculum for this academic year due to the low uptake in numbers for individual subjects.

“The decision was made purely on the basis of insufficient numbers in each subject to make it a viable option to run.

“Students who were hoping to study with us have all had support, where needed, in finding places with other local sixth form providers and colleges.

“It is our mission over the coming year to ensure that all students at The Deepings recognise the sixth form as being an excellent place to study and prepare for their next steps.

“This year our students have gone on to study economics, veterinary Science, prestigious scholarships in the US, to name but a few of our significant destinations.

“Our current Year 13 is an exceptional cohort and, as they gear themselves up for their final year of study, I know we will see our best Key Stage 5 results to date in August 2025.

“As we grow and develop, along with achieving a positive Ofsted inspection, we will be actively promoting and recruiting to the sixth form and giving further thought to the courses we offer early in the term in readiness for our open events.

“The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Authority (LA) are fully aware of the steps made by the school and supportive of the actions we have taken and are reassured they are in the best interests of our students.”

The Deepings School has had a sixth form for more than 30 years.

Anthem Trust, which runs 16 schools, is advertising four teaching jobs on The Deepings School website with a closing date of September 30. The school was given a ‘requires improvement’ rating at its last inspection, a year ago.

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