Largest two schools within controversial academy trust see sixth form numbers plummeting, as teenagers seemingly vote with their feet

An "Astrea Ascent" behaviour poster.

The two largest schools within the much-reported-on Astrea Academy Trust have seen the number of students staying on for the sixth form collapsing following the introduction of reduced subject options, strict behaviour regimes and centralised teaching, data seen by Education Uncovered suggest.

Longsands and St Ivo academies, both in Cambridgeshire, saw the number of students starting in the sixth form falling by a combined 40 per cent from January 2019, in the year the trust took them over, until January 2024, official Department for Education data show*. 

In 2019, Longsands, in St Neots, had 247 16-year-olds in year 12. In January this year, the figure was only half that, at 125. Meanwhile, at St Ivo, in St Ives, the numbers over the same period fell from 145 to 111.

However, unofficial data for this current academic year, collected by parents at both schools who have been concerned about the direction of travel under Astrea, and based on students’ own reports of the current rolls, paint an even more alarming picture.