Bromsgrove's Sixth Form is larger than most. The School is deliberately configured so that may pupils can join us at sixteen. To a great extent, the academic results, Oxford and Cambridge successes, and fruitful applications to Russell group and other top universities account for this popularity.

But there is more to it than that. Sixth Form is the transition between Bromsgrove and university, and as the levels of freedom, trust and independence increase, so the School community expects more in return from the young people we hope will become leaders of the future. Lifelong friendships are made, leadership opportunites abound and pupil-led initiatives dominate as they have not done before. Finding your own way in the world begins here at Bromsgrove, not at university: we encourage independence, not dependence.

The Sixth Form Centre - a conversion of an elegant, century old two-storey building - provides a base away from houses, and Sixth Formers have to plan and use their time without being spoon fed by staff. At this stage of a young person's life, responsibility is often a better teacher than the passive digestion of information. This is where, if we have done our job properly, we see the flair, the individuality, the creativity that make Bromsgrove pupils special. And this is where the line between teenage arrogance and appropriate adult confidence is clearly drawn. We expect all our pupils to walk on the right side of it when they leave us. You can often gauge how confident somebody is by what they don't say about themselves.