None of England’s Catholic sixth form colleges have applied to become academies – despite a church campaign that forced a legal change two years ago.
Nearly all secular sixth form colleges have been able to academise and enjoy the luxury of not paying VAT since the then-chancellor George Osborne changed tax rules in 2015.
But for a group of 13 Catholic-run sixth form colleges, it took another eight years before the law was amended to allow them to academise while maintaining protections in areas of curriculum, acts of worship and governance.
Since 2023, however, Catholic sixth form college principals have faced calls from bishops to join mega multi-academy trusts based on diocese boundaries and designed for schools.
The Catholic college leaders – responsible for educating about 30,000 students across England – appear unwilling to give up their independence by joining the church-run MATs.
Catholic Education Service director Paul Barber, who personally called for the Department for Education to close the “legal anomaly” that excluded Catholic colleges, admitted: “Due to the block on Catholic sixth form colleges becoming academies, diocesan strategies were developed without their inclusion.”
One option now being proposed is for Catholic sixth forms to form their own MAT which would be better suited to the “specialised” 16-to-19 education they offer.
‘A more flexible approach’
The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA), which represents the Catholic sixth form colleges, is calling on some dioceses – regional branches of the church responsible for education – to “adopt a more flexible approach” to colleges and recognise the unique “scale and complexity”.
Although Catholic sixth forms and their leaders have a high level of autonomy via the standalone governance structure of a college, diocesan bishops have ultimate control through the appointment of governors. Diocesan trustees also usually own the college building and grounds.
Those with knowledge of the Catholic education system told FE Week the 2023 rule change was too recent to expect any colleges to have launched conversion plans.
Labour’s withdrawal of a £25,000 academy conversion grant, and proposed tightening of rules on academy accountability, also suggests the party is less open to academy conversion than the previous government.
Dioceses’ mega MAT plan
Most Catholic dioceses in England are pursuing trust growth plans that aim to move their remaining local authority-maintained schools into bishop-backed trusts.
But these mega-merger plans, launched in 2022 following the publication of a Conservative government white paper, were designed without Catholic sixth form colleges in mind.
A SFCA spokesperson said college leaders had “little appetite” for these rapidly progressing plans which dioceses had found “difficult to amend”.
They added: “We’d like to see some dioceses adopt a more flexible approach to conversion that reflects the scale and complexity of sixth form colleges and the unique role they play in the local education landscape.”
But the Catholic Education Service, which advises and represents diocesan education services, told FE Week its MAT merger plans were already “being reviewed” to ensure sixth form colleges are “part of the wider family of Catholic schools rather than standalone institutions”.
Barber said: “As with all schools and colleges seeking to become academies, the Catholic sector is developing its strategies to respond to the recent changes to the support packages that were previously available.”
Protect unique status
Catholic sixth form colleges have similar levels of autonomy to standalone sixth form and FE colleges.
The 13 colleges appear to be thriving academically and financially, despite facing the same challenges navigating complex funding rules and shrinking budgets that have pushed many colleges into joining large groups or converting to academy status.
As a result, leaders such as Martin Twist, principal of St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College in Ladbroke Grove, west London, said his college was seeking an academy model that is “right for us”.
He added: “Academies are probably the right option for most institutions – but not at any cost.
“It’s about protecting our culture, organisation and staff, and making sure what we do is the right thing for our students.
“The main thing for me is all parties are open to dialogue and open to academisation, but because of the additional structural requirements of working across government, individual dioceses and canon law, and the Catholic Education Service, it’s just going to take more time to work through those challenges.”
MAT for sixth forms
Twist said some leaders had floated the idea of a national or regional Catholic sixth form college MAT that would build on strong existing relationships.
He told FE Week: “We work in close partnership with each other through the Association of Catholic Sixth Form Colleges, we understand each other and are all committed to the distinctive nature of Catholic Sixth Form colleges.”
“We all do the same thing, we understand each other.”
Most Catholic sixth forms are situated in London and the north west of England.
But FE Week understands that a specialist sixth form MAT crossing several dioceses would be difficult to deliver as bishops have a high degree of independence in how they choose to run their diocese, including education.
A cross-diocese MAT would present complications around who appoints trustees and holds responsibility for buildings.
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