Oldham’s 'Eton of the north' will give 'world class' education to ordinary youngsters

The new Eton Star College in Oldham will ‘remove barriers’ for youngsters previously unlikely to have the opportunity of a university education, the borough’s council leader has said.

Earlier this week, the government gave approval for the remarkable expansion of the elite boarding school Eton to open a sixth form college for 480 students in the centre of Oldham.

Eton, in conjunction with state school trust Star Academies and Oldham Council, plan to open up the college by 2026. The world-famous boarding school will also sponsor identically sized sixth forms in Dudley and Middlesbrough.

Oldham’s council leader, Councillor Arooj Shah said a priority for the council was that the biggest advantage from the college would be for youngsters from Oldham but students from other areas would be able to apply to attend.

She said: “The discussions we’ve had so far indicate that the places will be around 60 to 65 per cent for those from Oldham and the rest from neighbouring areas.”

Eton has promised to invest £1m per year, on top of the government’s own funding – as well as supply curriculum and teaching support to Star Academies.

Councillor Shah said the college would unlock opportunities previously unavailable to those in the borough.

She said: “It’s not about having the brightest students in terms of GCSE results. We already have a very good sixth form provision in Oldham.

“It’s about giving chances to those young people who are less likely to have opportunity but do have the potential to do well – they will have access to excellent education. A focus will be on recruiting numbers of children who are on free school meals, maybe looked-after children and from post codes and backgrounds which aren’t perhaps the most affluent.

“Maybe they will be from backgrounds where they would be the first in their family to have the opportunity to go to university.”

Eton is the former school of Boris Johnson and Prince William along with another 19 Prime Ministers and charges £44,000 a year in fees.

The news of the new college has also been welcomed by Heywood and Middleton MP Chris Clarkson, who said: "It’s fantastic news that Eton Star Oldham is one of the 15 new free schools confirmed by government.

“This fulfils one of the core election promises to raise standards and increase opportunity for students across northern Greater Manchester, especially in Heywood and Middleton.”

Eton head, Simon Henderson said: “We believe the new college has the potential to be transformative both for the young people who attend but also for the wider communities it will serve.

“Now the hard work really starts as we turn our vision into reality.”

Star Academies chief executive, Sir Hamid Patel CBE said: “We are confident the sixth form college will produce extraordinary outcomes, not only for students but for the wider communities too.

“With a growing demand for sixth form places, we aim to enable more young people to benefit from a high-quality academic education and to broaden the opportunities available to them both during and after their sixth form studies.”

Chris Gee, Local Democracy Reporting Service