Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department defines a partial closure of a Sixth Form College; and whether removal of A-Level provision constitutes a partial closure.

The arrangements for closing a standalone sixth form college are set out in the Dissolution of Further Education Corporations and Sixth Form College Corporations (Prescribed Bodies) Regulations 2012, and do not include partial closure.

It is for the college to decide the provision offered, taking into account the local authority’s statutory duty to ensure sufficient provision for 16 to 18 year-olds and their learner demographic and needs.

For school sixth forms, it is up to individual schools to decide which post-16 qualifications to offer in line with the 16 to 19 study programmes guidance.