![\"Speedwell](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/speedwell_fire_station_2014a.jpg\")
Speedwell Fire Station before it closed.<\/p>\nA LONG-awaited new sixth form for students in the Fishponds area is losing its government funding \u2013 more than two years after being approved.<\/p>\n
Cabot Learning Federation was told in 2023 that it could open a new post-16 centre on the site of the former Speedwell Fire Station (above), which closed in 2015 and is now derelict.<\/p>\n
The centre, next to Bristol Brunel Academy, would have provided up to 1,000 extra places for students aged 16 to 19 to study A-level, BTEC and other courses.<\/p>\n
It was given permission under the free schools programme \u2013 effectively the only way new school building projects were approved by the last government.<\/p>\n
The federation\u2019s CLF Post 16 centre currently operates from temporary buildings on the site of John Cabot Academy in Kingswood.<\/p>\n
However the Department for Education has now said the project is one of 28 mainstream free schools it is \u201cminded to cancel\u201d, after being under review for more than a year.<\/p>\n
The DfE published its decision on a spreadsheet, linked to an announcement of \u00a33 billion to create 50,000 extra specialist places for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).<\/p>\n
Asked to confirm whether saying it was \u201cminded to cancel\u201d meant a final decision had not yet been confirmed, the DfE sent the Voice a statement from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, which said: \u201cTo make today\u2019s investment happen, some mainstream free school projects will not go ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cPupil numbers are falling, while young people with SEND rises sharply, with 400,000 more pupils with SEND than in 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Phillipson said the government wants to prioritise better support for SEND pupils, closer to home, \u201cinstead of adding free schools where places already exist\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said free school projects were being kept \u201cwhere the need is clear\u201d, but added: \u201cWe will not waste money where it isn\u2019t needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Voice asked the DfE the reasons for cancelling the project and whether the council or CLF would be given funds to improve the current provision, but it did not provide answers.<\/p>\n
Speedwell Fire Station before it closed.<\/p>\n
CLF Post 16 was rated \u2018outstanding\u2019 by Ofsted in its most recent inspection, but many students at Bristol Brunel and Bristol Metropolitan Academy, which teach children up to the age of 16, move on to other sixth forms once they have done their GCSEs.<\/p>\n
\u2018Disappointment\u2019<\/p>\n
A CLF spokesperson said: \u201cThe Government\u2019s decision at this stage not to proceed with its free school bid at Speedwell is naturally a disappointment for us, and will also represent a significant disappointment for the young people of this community. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise the current challenging fiscal climate and of course support the Government\u2019s commitment to reforming SEND education in England; we still anticipate being able to make the compelling case that this investment in Bristol\u2019s education system represents both value for money and part of a broader solution for supporting learners experiencing disadvantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cabot Learning Federation\u2019s commitment to Post 16 remains secure. We will explore all possible avenues \u2013 including a potential appeal \u2013 to ensure this provision earns a permanent home from which to support Bristol\u2019s future generations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The council agreed to transfer the fire station site to CLF on a 125-year lease as part of a deal agreed in 2020, to provide extra secondary school places at Bristol Brunel and John Cabot academies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A LONG-awaited new sixth form for students in the Fishponds area is losing its government funding \u2013 more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":671451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,204369,204370,204371,748,204372,204373,2266,393,4884,67444,204374,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-671450","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-brunel-academy","10":"tag-bristol-met","11":"tag-bristol-metropolitan-academy","12":"tag-britain","13":"tag-cabot-learning-federation","14":"tag-cabot-post-16","15":"tag-education","16":"tag-england","17":"tag-great-britain","18":"tag-send","19":"tag-sixth-forms","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115831969557805095","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=671450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/671450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/671451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=671450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=671450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=671450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}