College Counsellor

The College opened in September 2010 as the newest sixth form college in the UK and the first to be built since 2004. With world class facilities, the £26 million College is purpose built and currently accommodates circa. 1650 students

The college has had a transformative impact on young people’s lives and life chances. In 2013 Ofsted graded us ‘outstanding’; at the time we were only the second sixth form college to have gained this accolade. Additionally, we have been the highest performing sixth form college in the Department for Education’s performance tables on five separate occasions, most recently in 2017/18. 

The College was set up to address the A Level underachievement in the Borough. Prior to 2010 the A Level performance in Rochdale was poor and had very low progression rates to HE. 

The College is committed to inclusive entry requirements and achieves extremely good value added scores as evidenced in Performance Tables and the ALPs scores. The College has excellent retention rates and average attendance is just over 95%.

The curriculum at the College is A Level focused with a small number of students following a mixed programme of a BTEC Sub Diploma alongside one A Level. Students who are yet to achieve a pass at Grade 4 or above in GCSE Maths and English are required to resit until they secure the required grade.

Given the prior attainment level of RSFC students, it is a huge strength of the College that we achieve excellent progression rates to higher education. The whole RSFC project has been a wonderful advert for social mobility. Students apply across the board to Oxford and Cambridge, Russell Group and the wider group of HE providers. 

The College works with students not applying to HE to ensure they have the opportunity to progress on to appropriate apprenticeships and employment opportunities. 

RSFC has very strong working relationships with local schools and the local GFE provider. The College Principal/CEO sits on the Pioneers Trust with local secondary headteachers and the College is also a key member of NWSFC (North West Sixth Form College group); SFCA (Sixth Form College Association) and the AOC (Association of Colleges).

The College estate is in outstanding condition and there has been significant investment in capital works to create an outstanding physical learning environment and student facilities. The financial health of the College is rated as outstanding.

We have a clear mission and central purpose to help students realise their academic potential. The College believes that every young person has it within themselves to succeed and will devote itself to improving student achievement. The College is an inclusive Sixth Form College. The students at RSFC study in a highly positive environment, and staff continuously build self-confidence and self-belief in students. Aspirations for the trajectory of improvement are high and the College focuses upon creating happy and successful students. The College has high expectations of students and staff. The drive is for the quality of teaching to be outstanding day in and day out, together with a support and guidance structure that powerfully focuses upon the individual student.