The St. Aidan's & St. John Fisher Associated Sixth Form was created in 1973 as a venture in ecumenical education. The two schools, St. Aidan's C of E High School and St. John Fisher Catholic High School are both based on the south side of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, separated by five minute's walk.
The Sixth Form has increased in size dramatically since 1973 when with 70 students, the two sixth forms were too small to run separately. Today, with over 1000 students on roll, it is the largest associated sixth form in the United Kingdom . This allows it to offer a diversity of subjects, catering for a range of interests. Although the majority of students enter the Associated Sixth Form from the two stem schools, students join from a number of other schools in the surrounding area, including those in West Yorkshire, most notably, Wetherby High School, Wetherby and Nidderdale High School and Community College, Pateley Bridge.
Following their time at the Sixth Form, the majority of students choose to continue their education in Higher Education.
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The Sixth Form offers a comprehensive range of courses at GCE Advanced (A2), GCE Advanced Supplementary (AS), Advanced Applied and Intermediate GNVQ levels.
The Association enables the Sixth Form to offer a broader range of subjects than which would be possible if the two schools operated independent Sixth Forms. Moreover, the Association has made it possible for students to select from different specifications in the same subject. Also for the more gifted students, there is the opportunity to study Advanced Extension Award (AEA) for one year at A2 Level.
The vast majority of students have lessons at both schools.
The courses currently offered are:
The component schools each have subject areas in which they have Specialist College Status. St John Fisher School has been awarded Specialist College Status in both Arts and Humanities whilst St Aidan's School has Specialist College Status in Science and Modern Languages.