Local authority school sixth forms

We fund school sixth form provision via local authorities, using a set funding methodology and framework which is consistently applied across all local authorities and FE colleges. Each local authority is required to sign our Terms and Conditions of Funding, and it is for individual local authorities to determine how they distribute their annual funding allocation amongst their individual schools.

Schools submit learner data every autumn following the end of the academic year through the Post-16 Data Collection, following sign-off by the local authority. The data includes details of individual learners and the programmes and activities they have undertaken during the previous academic year. The data, alongside headcount data taken from January pupil level annual school census (PLASC) data, is used as part of our funding methodology for local authorities.

It is also used by our statistics team, alongside data on learner characteristics from the PLASC and examination results from the Welsh Examinations Database, to give a comprehensive picture of learner outcomes in school sixth forms. These statistics are published annually at a national level, and individual school reports are shared with schools and local authorities.

As part of our regulatory framework, a new funding condition for Quality and Continuous Improvement will apply to local authority-maintained school sixth form provision from 1 August 2026. This requires local authorities to demonstrate that their sixth form provision is of good quality and engages with continuous improvement.
 
The Quality Framework sets out ways in which this can be demonstrated. We have produced a briefing note for local authorities to help them understand how they can meet this condition. As our funding relationship is with local authorities rather than schools, it is the local authority that will need to comply with the condition. The condition will require local authorities to ensure that they, and their schools with sixth forms:

– achieve satisfactory inspection outcomes (ie at school level and in inspections of local government education services);
– have acceptable performance data (at school and local authority level); and
– are not considered by Medr to demonstrate a risk to the quality of education (at school and local authority level).

We will therefore expect local authorities to have oversight of performance of their schools, both individually and collectively. Separately, local authorities may be asked to produce a self-analysis of their school sixth form provision in 2027, to enable us to gain effective insight into their provision, and assess the extent to which we can be assured by the oversight of local authorities.

Medr has a statutory duty to prepare a Learner Engagement Code about the involvement of learners in their provider’s decision-making. This is the only part of our regulatory framework that places a direct requirement on governing bodies of schools with sixth forms.
 
Under Section 101 of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 (TERA) , governing bodies have a statutory duty to comply with the Learner Engagement Code. Schools will be required to work with their sixth form pupils to produce a published commitment to learner engagement, to keep this under regular review, and to give us evidence annually of the impact of pupils’ engagement in decision-making. This can be done through existing pupil representation structures, including school councils and Associate Pupil Governors. A briefing note for schools to help them meet this duty will be available in summer 2026, and with training materials developed for governing bodies and pupils to help support the effective implementation of the Code.

Statutory responsibility for establishing and overseeing the delivery of local curricula for 16-18 year‑olds transferred to Medr on 1 April 2026 under the Learning and Skills (Wales) Measure 2009. This means we now work with local authorities, schools, and colleges to shape a broad and balanced curriculum offer in each local authority area. Local curricula must include a suitable mix of academic and vocational options, drawing from the five learning domains set out in Section 33 of the Learning and Skills Act 2000.

In the immediate term, we will continue to operate in line with the Welsh Government’s existing guidance for Medr while new arrangements are developed. We intend to introduce our own 16-18 curriculum guidance for local authorities and schools, shaped through engagement and consultation.

As part of this planning process, we will ask local authorities and colleges to submit curriculum planning data annually, in early spring for the following academic year. This will typically include learner demand and projections, Welsh-medium offer, current programme availability, course viability and performance information, and evidence of how the local offer meets statutory requirements across the learning domains. This data will help us assess whether local curricula are balanced, sustainable and aligned with the needs of learners, local priorities and the broader direction of Wales’s tertiary education system.

Schools with sixth forms are not within scope of Medr’s Welsh language regulatory condition. Following the passing of the Welsh Language and Education (Wales) Act 2025, however, schools and governing bodies, including those with sixth forms, will be subject to new statutory requirements in relation to Welsh language education as part of a wider national framework for language planning.
 
We nevertheless recognise that schools with sixth forms will make a critical contribution to the National Plan for the Welsh Language in Tertiary Education, a commitment in our current Strategic Plan. Schools play a key role in sustaining and strengthening learners’ Welsh language skills at the point of transition from statutory education into the tertiary system. The National Plan will therefore need to reflect how pathways in schools with sixth forms connect with and support learners’ progression across the whole tertiary landscape.
 
A key link between the National Plan and schools and local authorities will be the formation of 16-18 local curricula. We will work with local authorities, schools, and colleges to shape a broad and coherent Welsh-medium tertiary offer, in line with our strategic duties, to encourage demand for, and participation in, Welsh-medium tertiary education and to take all reasonable steps to ensure that there is sufficient‍ Welsh-medium tertiary education provision to meet‍ demand. Aligning Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) priorities with local curricula planning will help ensure coherent progression routes and secure continuity of Welsh‑medium pathways.

The Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022 (TERA) sets out specific responsibilities for Medr in relation to sixth form provision in maintained schools. Under Schedule 4 of TERA, we have formal powers to initiate, consider and support proposals relating to sixth form reorganisation. These powers apply to local authority‑maintained schools and to voluntary or foundation schools that operate sixth form provision. In line with the legislation, we may require:

• A local authority to bring forward proposals to establish or close a school that is solely sixth‑form provision, or to expand or reduce existing sixth form capacity.
• The governing body of a voluntary or foundation school to propose changes to its sixth form provision.

Local authorities also have specific duties when developing their own proposals. TERA and the School Organisation Code require local authorities to consult Medr on any planned changes to sixth form provision in maintained schools. This includes the establishment or closure of sixth forms, change of language designation e.g. English-medium to Welsh-medium, or proposals that would significantly increase or decrease their capacity.

What this means for local authorities and school sixth forms

Medr’s role as a statutory consultee is intended to support local authorities, not direct or predetermine outcomes. Our aim is to work collaboratively from the earliest stages of thinking so that any changes to sixth form provision align with both local priorities and our wider strategic objectives for a high‑quality, sustainable tertiary education system in Wales.

Our intention is to provide constructive, early advice; to share evidence and insights; and to help ensure that any proposals brought forward are robust, coherent and deliver strong outcomes for learners. We want this to be an open and supportive process that enables local authorities, schools and Medr to work together with shared clarity and purpose.

To help with this, we are developing framework guidance designed to support local authorities in shaping their proposals before entering statutory consultation. This guidance, which will be developed in collaboration with stakeholders, focuses on ensuring that sixth form reorganisation is aligned to our strategic duties, aims, objectives and long-term ambitions; is evidence‑based; and is able to meet the long‑term needs of learners and communities.