Upset as March Neale-Wade Academy cancels A-level courses blaming a lack of numbers
Numbers as low as one or two students wanting to take a course have been blamed for the cancellation of some A-levels at a Fenland school.
Angry parents took to Facebook this week to complain about the Neale-Wade Academy’s ‘late’ decision to cancel some courses, leaving potential students rushing to find alternatives.
One post on the social media site said: “What the heck is going on with Neale-Wade? Just been told at three days' notice that the subjects my child wants to take at A Level are no longer running and she has to travel to Cromwell instead.”
Another mum said: “Absolutely shocking how they’ve handled it, only found out today, they could have given us more notice, so we had time to look at other sixth forms/colleges, not a day before.”
Another said: “This is the second time today, I have heard news that a student from Neale-Wade, has had to change sixth form, for the same reason. This is children's lives they are messing with.”
But others said it was nothing unusual pointing out that other schools and colleges in the area have acted similarly in the past including the College of West Anglia and the Cromwell Community College, at Chatteris.
One person said: “Happens quite often if not enough kids get the results to do the subject they’ll scrap the course. Most schools will do this.”
Graham Horn, Neale-Wade principal, said: “As outlined to our prospective students throughout the application process, offers for specific courses of study are subject to change depending on entry requirements and the number of students enrolled on courses.
“This is a situation that can change over the summer following students receiving results and making their final decisions about their study options.
“Sadly for four of the subjects we intended to offer at A Level, we had very small numbers confirmed. In these cases there were less than five students per subject, for some as few as one or two students. This means it is no longer feasible for financial, practical, and educational reasons for these courses to run.
“This has affected 13 of the Year 12 students entering our sixth form this year. All students have been notified and we are working with them to find the best possible alternatives to meet their needs.
“One option we are offering is free daily transport to Cromwell Community College so that they can study their chosen course there.
“We are delighted that courses such as Criminology, Psychology, and Sociology are still vibrant and popular here at Neale-Wade Academy and, importantly, that our results show we are performing at or better than the national averages in these subjects.”
