Sections 71 to 77 - Proposals for restructuring sixth form education
85.These sections, based on section 113A of and Schedule 7A to the Learning and Skills Act 2000, provide the Welsh Ministers with the power to make proposals for the establishment of new community, or community special schools, to provide sixth form education only; the addition or removal of sixth form education from any existing maintained schools; the discontinuance of any existing sixth form school; and the procedures to be followed if the Welsh Ministers publish proposals for restructuring sixth forms.
86.Section 77 makes consequential amendments in respect of inspection reports on sixth form education. Section 113 of, and Schedule 7, to the Learning and Skills Act 2000 provided the Welsh Ministers with powers to publish proposals to discontinue a school that only offered sixth form education or to remove a sixth form from a school. These powers were triggered by an adverse inspection report by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales. As section 71 provides a free-standing power for the Welsh Ministers to bring forward proposals for the alteration or removal of sixth forms, there is no longer a need for the triggers in Schedule 7 to the Learning and Skills Act 2000. However the requirement to report separately on the adequacy of the education of a school’s sixth form as part of a general school or an area inspection is still relevant, and the Education Act 2005 is amended to retain this requirement. These sections are based on provisions in paragraphs 1 to 6 of Schedule 7 to the Learning and Skills Act 2000.