Paston Sixth Form College Paston College is North Norfolk’s sixth form college – the only specialist college in North Norfolk for students aged 16-19. Offering a wide curriculum of A and AS subjects, as well as BTEC, and GCSE courses. Paston draws students from an area of some 400 square miles of rural, coastal and broadland North Norfolk – Aylsham, Cromer and Sheringham, North Walsham, Stalham and their rural hinterlands, and also from the northern fringes of Norwich.
In 2005-08 Paston was placed in the top 10% of colleges and schools nationally for its performance at AS level and in the top 12% for A level. In 2008 150+ students went on to around 60 different universities after studying A levels or BTEC Nationals at the College.
Visit the Paston Sixth Form College website.
Academic success, improved transport links and a change in start time have generated unprecedented interest in North Norfolk’s Sixth Form College
This September was a record-breaker for Paston Sixth Form College: 760 students represent the College’s highest ever enrolment, 10% up on 2009. 2011 is already shaping up to be even better, and Paston is advising Year 11 students to apply early to avoid disappointment.
20 minutes become 60 as bus companies jump on board for College’s new timetable
Paston Sixth Form College‘s decision to change the time its day starts has received support from students, parents and teachers alike. Now the local bus companies have jumped on board, with dramatic effect – in some cases, students will be able to leave for College a whole hour later.
It’s all thanks to new bus timetables from September 2010, which will mean a much more streamlined operation, with students not only able to leave home later, but also get home earlier – giving them more time for work, rest and play.
“This will make my day so much better,” Barney Robinson, student, living in Norwich.
"It’s perfect for me," Becca Crow, a student from Worstead.
"A marvellous initiative," Shelagh Hutson, Norfolk CC cabinet member for Children’s Services.
Paston Sixth Form College and National Express have been working together to make it easier for students from Norwich and North Norfolk to get to the College on time using the Bittern Line train service. As a ‘sign’ of this partnership, at 11.00am on Friday 5th March smart new station signs at North Walsham station will be unveiled, bearing the message: ‘North Walsham – Home of Paston Sixth Form College.’
It’s the first time that a UK Sixth Form College has ‘sponsored’ their local railway station in this way and underlines Paston’s commitment to promoting green, sustainable transport to its students.
The latest league tables show that for students who want to achieve the best A level and BTEC results they possibly can, Paston Sixth Form College is the best place in Norfolk to be.
Paston is top of the CVA (Contextual Value Added) table, which compares the achievements of all sixth form establishments, both state and independent. What CVA measures is how much better students perform, academically, when they leave a sixth form compared to when they arrive. In other words, how much better their actual results are compared to their predicted ones.
Several parents have asked staff at Paston about the new CVA league tables, which place the College third overall in Norfolk and put it well in the top 25% of sixth forms nationally. Although the tables are complicated they’re also a useful tool, says College Principal Peter Mayne.
The future of one of the UK’s best sixth form colleges, a centre of excellence in North Norfolk, is under threat.
Paston College has warned that a multi million pound grant is in jeopardy as it moves to defend the planned relocation of the College. “The teenagers of North Norfolk deserve the best education they can get – and currently Paston is delivering it,” says Peter Mayne, Principal of the College.