Construction set to begin on £13m college

Work on a new sixth form college will begin in Pudsey this month.

Pudsey Sixth Form College, which will cater for up to 600 students and offer a range of A levels, vocational courses and GCSEs, will be built on land next to Crawshaw Academy, off Kent Road.

The construction phase of the partnership project – led by Leeds Sixth Form College, Crawshaw Academy, Co-op Academy Priesthorpe and Leeds West Academy – will begin on Monday 27 May.

The new college is designed to meet a projected rise in the number of 16-18 year olds across Leeds over the next decade – and to give local students the chance to excel without having to travel further afield.

Principal of Leeds Sixth Form College Phil Mark, who will also lead the Pudsey college, said: “We know there is a clear local demand to help young people from the area take the next important step in their academic or career development, and that demand is only expected to rise over the coming years.

“Our mission will be to help each of our students set high goals for themselves and then, by putting together personalised plans that make the most of our broad course offering, make those achievable.

“The Pudsey Sixth Form College partnership used feedback from the community to refine our plans so we could deliver a state-of-the-art, specialist college that will really make the town proud and evolve, dynamically, to meet local needs.”

The two-storey building will contain 25 classrooms and be built to high sustainability specifications, incorporating green technology – including air source heat pumps – to minimise its carbon footprint.

The college’s initial A level offering will be varied and include everything from business, psychology and law to maths, English language and literature, and biology.

A number of vocational courses, including T Levels, will also be available along with a ‘hybrid’ option that lets students combine two A levels with a vocational subject.

CEO of Red Kite Learning Trust (of which Crawshaw Academy is a member), Richard Sheriff, said: “This sixth form college will enable the young people of Pudsey to access the quality education they need to take their next step post-16, without having to move away.

“It is a much-needed facility with the potential to open up opportunities and transform lives, and we are looking forward to showing students, and the wider community, around when the construction phase is completed.”