Ashfield Comprehensive School

We are pleased to confirm that from September 2026 Ashfield Post 16 will be offering Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. Further details will be available in due course. To register your interest, please complete our online form at https://forms.office.com/e/W1gTZ2AfxZ

The Access Project (TAP) are a charity based organisation currently working in the East Midlands with a programme co-ordinator based in school for 2 days each week. TAP is for high-potential students, providing a programme of personalised tuition and in-school support, to help you gain access to selective universities. Each year, you will receive at least 15 hours online academic tuition from a mentor, 5 hours one-to-one mentoring sessions with the programme co-ordinator, help and support with UCAS applications and other admission requirements (interviews, tests etc.) as required. The mentors you will work with are all volunteer graduates who are trained and supported to tutor by TAP. If you wish to enrol on TAP you will need to fill in an application form, and satisfy the enrolment principles of TAP.

The Bar National Mock Trial competition is a national competition organised by the Citizenship Foundation for state schools in the UK. You will be part of an Ashfield team which must take on the role of barristers and witnesses and present your case in a real Crown Court room against teams from other schools. You will be judged by Circuit Judges, Recorders and senior barristers or advocates. Winning teams from regional heats will then fight it out in a national final. The competition will enable you to better understand the law and the role of barristers within our justice system. You will develop skills in analysing and evaluating as well as public speaking.

The Post 16 Debate Club is a lunchtime club which all students in Post 16 are eligible to join. Debate club aims to assist students to develop their knowledge of how to successfully construct a developed argument, using their critical thinking and teamwork skills to look at current affairs and issues in contemporary society from a variety of viewpoints, supporting their arguments with well researched evidence such as statistics and case studies. It also aims to help students further develop their confidence when speaking in front of others by giving students opportunities to vocalise the debates they have constructed in front of peers within the club and to receive constructive feedback to help them improve. The transferable skills established from this club are skills that will look good on a university personal statement and CV.

As a faculty ambassador you will be expected to support the staff in your faculty in promoting the subjects they teach. This might mean acting as a volunteer helper at the Post 16 Open Evening, Post 16 Offer Holder Day or the Year 6 Intake Evening. You will be expected to field questions from prospective students and parents, telling them what life is like at Ashfield and what they can expect to experience if they study your faculty’s subjects. Acting as a faculty ambassador is a good way to develop your communication skills and will also look good on your university personal statement, especially if you are thinking of applying for a course linked to your faculty.

If you are artistically inclined there are many opportunities for you to showcase your talents. As well as the annual school show for aspiring actors, the school run instrumental and vocal lessons, a concert band a string ensemble as well as a highly acclaimed vocal ensemble. Post 16 students are an integral part of all of these groups. You will be able to perform at the annual school show and celebration evening and at local primary schools as well as at events outside of school. In recent years these events have included opening the Christmas shopping season at John Lewis Nottingham, singing at Disneyland Paris and at Notre Dame Cathedral.

Every year all A Level Maths students will be entered into the UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge. The challenge itself is designed to stimulate mathematical problem solving which is an important skill to develop for university or the world of work. You will take part in an individual and possibly a team challenge. The individual challenge is a national competition involving a multiple choice quiz and if you finish in the top 1000 participants you will earn a place in the Maths Olympiad. The next 6600 are invited to the Kangaroo round. Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates are also awarded to reflect your performance. If you take part in the team challenge (2 students from each year group) you will compete at Nottingham University in the regional round. The winning team will then represents the region in the national finals in London.

Post 16 run very successful teams in boy’s rugby (county champions) and football and in girl’s netball (county champions) and volleyball (midlands champions). There are also opportunities to represent Post 16 in district and county cross country and track & field. Sport is an excellent way to bring you together with other like-minded individuals and is invaluable in fostering aspects of the school ASPIRE motto (achievement, pride and respect).

The Student Management Team (SMT) is a peer elected team of students who contribute widely to the ethos of Post 16. Each year 12-15 students are chosen by their peers at the end of Year 12 in an election which involves students developing and presenting their manifesto to their peer group. If elected to the SMT you become the voice of the Post 16 student body and represent Post 16 in many different arenas such as assemblies (in Post 16 and the Main School), parent’s evenings, taster days and teaching appointments. You are also responsible for organising charity events and social events within Post 16. Over the years, the SMT have been responsible for effecting change within Post 16 in terms of both student activities but also within the curriculum. Post 16 students who have been involved have spoken of the skills they have gained as part of the team, including an increase in their confidence and public speaking skills.

At the end of each academic year a full week is dedicated to year 12 work experience where Ashfield Post 16 students are given the opportunity to gain valuable work experience in a whole variety of placements. Securing good quality work experience allows students to enhance their employability skills for the future whilst gaining an insight into potential career paths. Students are given support through pastoral sessions throughout the year to secure their placements. We also have a Post 16 career’s advisor that students can book career’s appointments with to offer further support with work experience as well as support with future plans. As students then move into year 13, they can then use their work experience to support and strengthen any applications they make for opportunities after Post 16.