After Year 11, there is a wealth of choice which is open to the student for the first time. Why should they choose to stay with you? The most successful sixth forms embrace this element of competition and try to remove any question of doubt about the next logical step for both students and parents. By making the sixth form centre an appealing, contemporary, grown-up environment yet still retaining elements of familiarity, it is much easier to encourage students to continue to sixth form, and attract new sixth formers from other schools.

It’s a fact that the culture in any school is set by the sixth formers. The younger students look to the oldest pupils as role models, and often take on their attitudes and values by default. A school that has relaxed, happy, focused sixth formers, tends to have younger pupils that fit the same mould. The schools that understand this, tend to go above and beyond when it comes to sixth form facilities. It’s deeper than just dotting a few beanbags around and installing a coffee machine – it’s about creating a cultural DNA.

Sixth formers want their own space and their own set of privileges that set them apart from the rest of the school. The most successful sixth form centres offer both a sanctuary away from regular school life, and a dynamic educational hub that encourages both deep, individual learning and collaboration with partners or within small teams. Think somewhere between school and Starbucks.

Professional working environments are changing at a pace not seen since the Industrial Revolution. Agile working is here to stay. Fixed PC’s and work stations are rapidly being replaced with flexible hot desking zones and portable tech. The key with any modern sixth form centre is to make the space flexible enough to keep pace. For example, modular and reconfigurable furniture gives you the flexibility to morph and evolve your sixth form at the same speed the workplace.