Sawbridgeworth's Leventhorpe School makes history with degree course

LEVENTHORPE School in Sawbridgeworth is making history by becoming the first state secondary school in the country to offer a full degree programme.

Half a dozen students are enrolled on the BSc sociology degree offered through the University of London International Programmes, with academic direction provided by The London School of Economics and Political Science.

The students all qualified for year two of the degree course with some gaining firsts and 2.1s for the courses taken as part of year one.

The driving force behind this quiet revolution is Denise Jackson, head of sociology and HE coordinator.

“I have an absolute passion for life-long education," she said. “We are a state-funded academy with a sixth-form of around 360.

"I have been running Open University courses here for the last seven years. Increasingly, students were asking whether they could stay on to complete a degree at the school through the OU. I pursued this route but on the journey discovered the University of London International Programmes and the rest is history as they say.”

She added: “It’s about the localisation of HE – that is what we’re now offering."

The Cambridge Road school is charging tuition fees of £5,000 per year for the degree programme, compared to the £9,000 per year which is common in most UK public universities. Students have gained student finance for the course. All of the students are working either full or part time.

Chris Kemp, 24, comments: “I got the email about this course and it’s just fantastic. It’s so much better being in a classroom environment, rather than sitting at home studying. We’ve got a great teacher here and great classmates as well. I learn best bouncing off other people, listening to other people, and contributing myself. Whereas if it was just me alone with a book, I may feel that I understand it when in truth I haven’t.”

Fellow student Claire Riley said she was very happy to have passed the first year and to be into year two and Sophie Natynczyk said she was thrilled to have done so well through such a prestigious university.

Teaching for the BSc Sociology started on September 11 2012, with eight hours of face-to-face tuition per week. Year two started this week.