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.

At Longsands, parents say that only 45 students entered the sixth form in year 12 this month. That is less than a fifth of the size of year 12 when Astrea took over the school, with this year’s year 12, on these unofficial numbers, having collapsed by nearly two thirds since only last year.

At St Ivo, the drop compared to last year, again based on parents’ figures, appeared to be even higher than that at Longsands. Only 36 students started year 12 this month, these data show. If these statistics are right, again this would be a fall of nearly 70 per cent, in a single year.

This means that the percentage of year 11s at Longsands opting for the sixth form has dropped from nearly 80 per cent when Astrea took over to under 20 per cent this year, based on this month’s unofficial figures, with the proportion doing so last academic year standing at 45 per cent.

Similarly, at St Ivo, the percentage of year 11s opting for the sixth form has dropped from more than 50 per cent when Astrea took over to just under 40 per cent as of last academic year, to only just over 10 per cent based on the parents’ figures for this month.

Reasons

Astrea has implemented a number of changes, and the basis for students’ sixth form choices are of course complex. So it is tricky to be completely certain about what has driven these dramatic changes in intake numbers.

However, it is clear that sixth form numbers have been on a downward trend since Astrea arrived, in both schools, with the unofficial new numbers dramatically accentuating what the official data to January 2024 show.

It is clear, too, that it is not just local population trends which are to blame. I compared year 12 numbers for all state secondary schools in Cambridgeshire between January 2019 and January 2024. Longsands had the highest fall in numbers in absolute terms over that period, with its year 12 cohort reducing by 122 students or 49 per cent over this period. In percentage terms, it had the third-highest drop-off, behind two smaller schools** including one which no longer has a year 12 cohort.

At St Ivo, the picture to last academic year was slightly less dramatic, with the 2023-24 year 12 being 23 per cent smaller than it was five years ago. This was the sixth-highest fall among 16 Cambridgeshire schools, but with this month’s unofficial data clearly making matters much worse.

Recent changes

The unofficial data for this month, if they turn out to be accurate – and official statistics for 2024-25 will not be published until next summer – seem most damning for the current regime at Astrea.

The trust introduced tough new rules on behaviour, uniform and equipment following the arrival of Richard Tutt as director of secondary education in summer 2022. Mr Tutt’s leadership has also seen centralised teaching approaches put in place, such as by-the-minute instructions on how teacher-led reading sessions, in which students must follow the text with a ruler, are to be conducted.

The past two years have also seen some reduction in the curricula on offer at the two schools, with parents at St Ivo having complained 18 months ago about the cutting-back of creative subjects at GCSE, with Astrea said to be focusing closely on the academic subjects of the EBacc.

Dawn Milne, a former governor at Longsands whose concerns about the direction of the school under Astrea are covered in detail in a separate story here, said her own son had opted for a sixth-form 20 miles away in Cambridge from this month, rather than Longsands, where he had been a student.

She told me that the school’s cutting-back of creative subjects was part of the reason for the dramatic drop-off in sixth form recruits.

She added that the school’s loss of so many teachers under Astrea was also a factor. She said that, as of a few years, the “overriding feedback” from Longsands sixth-formers had been that “the teachers were great. It wasn’t the facilities, it wasn’t the school: the teachers were fantastic.” Wth “so many very good, very experienced teachers, having left,” she said, this was having an impact: students were less likely to want to stay on to be taught by these staff.

Finally, students such as her son were fed up with the strict ethos. Ms Milne said: “There’s talk of trying to make the sixth form more and more Astrea. And there are so many pupils who just do not want to be treated like a small child any more, and would like to go somewhere else.”

Last year, parents at St Ivo compiled a document of 168 pages having surveyed 315 parents and 462 children. It raised a string of concerns including many complaints about the effects of its detailed rules on uniform, equipment and behaviour on their children’s mental health. I understand that there have been concerns that this regime had helped to drive the sharp drop in sixth form numbers.

Subject options, however, may be even more influential. I gather that modern languages, further maths, computer science, music and the Level 3 Diploma in Health and Social Care are among the subjects no longer being offered at A-level at St Ivo.

Parents are also unhappy that a string of subject combinations which are seen as useful for preparation for university study are no longer possible, because of cuts and timetable clashes.

Social media discussion among parents about this has even included concerns being raised about local buses becoming overcrowded, because of the number of students heading from St Ives to Cambridge in the morning, to attend sixth forms there.

I have asked Astrea for a response, and put the latest data from the parents to it. But it has not got back to me.  

*In the graph, data for the years 2002-2018 are based on information from parents. Although I have not cross-checked these myself, they were compiled from official DfE statistical releases. Parents also provided data based on official DfE figures for 2019-24, which I cross-checked and are accurate. The figures for 2025 are provisional based on unofficial data compiled by the parents for the September 2014 intake.

**The Cambridgeshire secondary school with the highest percentage drop of year 12 students over the period 2019 to 24 was Cottenham Village College, also part of Astrea, which closed its sixth form over this period. The second-highest was Parkside in Cambridge, which is part of United Learning, whose regional director up to 2022 was Richard Tutt. I understand Parkside’s sixth form has closed this year.