The first specialist maths school in Yorkshire has been approved to be run by a partnership between a high-profile multi-academy trust and a university.
The new Leeds Mathematics School will cater for 250 16- to 19-year-old students and be run by GORSE Academies Trust and the University of Leeds.
It is the latest maths school to be approved by the government, which has committed to opening one in every region in England.
Maths: DfE approves specialist schools backed by universities
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Earlier this year, chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget made £7 million available to open 11 specialist maths schools around the country.
This followed a commitment to open one in every region by education secretary Gavin Williamson at last year’s Conservative Party conference.
The new Leeds Mathematics School is the first to be approved in the Yorkshire and Humber region and the ninth in the country so far.
GORSE Academies said that students would each take maths and further maths alongside a range of other subjects including physics, chemistry and computer science.
The multi-academy trust’s chief executive, Sir John Townsley, said: “The case for an advanced-level mathematics school in our city is compelling.
“The Leeds city region economy is the largest outside London and the UK’s largest manufacturing centre.
“As one of the first multi-academy trusts to be given the go-ahead to open a mathematics school, in partnership with the University of Leeds, this approval presents an outstanding opportunity to ensure that highly numerate students receive the highest quality, specialised post-16 education on offer. This will include programmes delivered by the university’s top academics.”
The university’s vice-chancellor, Prof Simone Buitendijk, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to extend our outreach work across the education community in Leeds, encouraging talented young people from under-represented groups to make the most of their abilities.”
Schools minister Baroness Berridge said: “It is exciting to see GORSE Academies Trust and the University of Leeds coming together to drive forward excellence in maths among young people in and around Leeds.
“Leeds Mathematics School takes us another step forward towards opening a maths school in every region so that young people across the country, regardless of their background, can study maths at the highest level.”
Earlier this year, the DfE approved plans for a new specialist maths school in North London run by a partnership between Imperial College London and Woodhouse College, a state sixth-form college in Finchley.
The University of Liverpool Mathematics School was announced in 2018 following the success of similar sixth-form schools opened by King’s College London and the University of Exeter.
Since then, specialist maths sixth forms backed by the universities of Surrey, Lancaster, Durham and Cambridge have also been approved.
