One of the most prestigious private schools in the country has been given the green light to open free selective sixth form colleges in disadvantaged areas.
Eton College, a boarding school near Windsor in Berkshire, and academy trust Star Academies will set up three state sixth forms in Dudley, Middlesbrough and Oldham after the Department for Education (DfE) approved the plans.
The age 16-19 free schools, which will be called Eton Star Dudley, Eton Star Oldham and Eton Star Teesside, will aim to recruit young people from deprived communities and help them secure places at top universities.
Eton College, where many of the country’s prime ministers studied, will contribute approximately £1 million a year per college on top of current funding levels – which is about £2,000 per year for each student.
Students from the state sixth forms will also have a chance to attend a summer school each year at Eton College as part of the partnership.
It comes after Dudley, Middlesbrough and Oldham were all listed in the Government’s 55 education “cold spots” in England – those identified as having the weakest education outcomes – as part of its levelling up agenda.
In February last year, the DfE said the 55 “education investment areas”, which were selected to raise school standards, would be prioritised for new specialist sixth forms.
Each Eton Star sixth form college will admit 240 students a year, which means each college will have 480 students across Year 12 and Year 13 when full.
