Dudley students set to benefit from new free college
Youngsters from across the Black Country will be able to benefit from a high standard of education after a new free sixth form college was approved.
Eton College and Star Academies have welcomed the Department for Education’s decision, announced this morning, to approve their plans to open a new free sixth form college in Dudley.
The government has announced that the college in Dudley will be one of 15 new free schools opened in parts of the country where education outcomes are weakest, providing more opportunities for local young people.
Free schools are funded by the government but are not run by the local authority, instead, they are run by other organisations, most commonly academy trusts, but also industry and universities.
They have greater freedom to innovate and drive up standards, for example more autonomy over the teachers' pay and their curriculum.
The new schools will include three schools run by the high performing Star Academies and Eton College, located in Dudley, Teesside and Oldham, spreading the highest standards of education across the North East, North West and West Midlands.
Eton Star Dudley will recruit dynamic young people from deprived communities in the town and surrounding areas and provide them with a rigorous and rounded education, and support them to achieve places at the very best universities.
Students who attend will benefit from an education based on the best that is on offer at Eton and the best of Star Academies, which is, by many metrics, the highest-performing state school trust in the country.
Eton’s Head Master Simon Henderson said: “We are delighted by this decision. We believe Eton Star Dudley has the potential to be transformative both for the young people who attend and for the wider communities it will serve. Now the hard work really starts as we turn our vision into reality.
“Collaborative partnership will be key to this project’s success and we are very grateful for the support we have had already from Dudley Council, from the local communities and from our colleagues in other educational settings.”
Star Academies Chief Executive Sir Hamid Patel CBE said: “This marks an exciting milestone. We are confident that Eton Star Dudley will produce extraordinary, transformative outcomes, not only for its students but for the wider community too.
“With a growing demand for sixth form places in Dudley and the Black Country, we aim to enable more young people to benefit from a high-quality academic education and to broaden the opportunities available to them both during and after their sixth form studies.”
Councillor Patrick Harley, Leader of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, said: “We are delighted with the news and this is a significant step forward to bringing Eton to Dudley.
“Eton and Star epitomise the very best standards in learning and they very much share our vision of a nationally renowned education facility in the borough.
"We will continue to hold positive discussions with Eton and Star to pave the way for this to happen.”
