College is up there with the very best

OLDHAM Sixth Form College has cemented its outstanding reputation by being named among the best in the country.

It is in the top 5 per cent of sixth forms for students’ progress in new A-level league tables — putting it alongside independent schools.

Only four North-West schools and colleges made the list and delighted principal Nick Brown said: “This puts us at the top of the tree.”

The league table ranks institutions by their contextual value added (CVA) score which shows how much students have improved since their GCSEs.

The college’s CVA score is in the top 5 per cent nationally while its point score per A-level exam entry is also one of the best in Oldham, almost the same as Hulme Grammar School for Boys and above both Blue Coat and Crompton House.

The news comes after the college received the highest grade of “outstanding” from Ofsted last year. This meant that it had achieved the top rating in all four of its inspections since it opened in 1992.

It has also unveiled plans for a £19 million regional science centre which is due to open in September 2011.

Mr Brown called the results remarkable, saying that the college took students that others places wouldn’t.

He added: “ Students who choose to come to the college after their GCSEs can feel confident that they will receive excellent teaching, in a fantastic learning environment, and that they will leave with results that they may not have thought possible, which will allow them to progress to the most competitive degree courses at the very best universities.

“This national recognition of the college’s outstanding achievements is one of the main contributory factors to the success of its recent bid to open a unique new science centre in the near future.”