The new sixth form centre at Blackburn College has officially been opened.

In an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Monday (October 18), the dedicated centre for A-Levels has welcomed over 300 students on academic courses.

With 20 courses and more to be added next year, the newly built sixth form centre opened to students at the start of the term.

At the opening ceremony, chief executive and principal Dr Fazal Dad said: “The £1million redevelopment demonstrates our commitment to invest in our 16–18-year-old provision, to ensure our students have access to the highest quality further education, and facilities in a safe and secure environment.

"In September 2021 we were delighted to open our doors to around 300 A-Level students on the back of an increase in A-Levels A*, A and B grades.

"Our students also achieved a 100 per cent A-Level pass rate in science subjects including maths, further maths, biology, physics. A fantastic achievement!

"Blackburn College has recently become the North West hub for the OxNet programme which supports students’ applications to Oxbridge, Cambridge and Russell Group universities and we are delighted to be working with partner schools to increase applications at the UK’s top universities across our region.

"We are currently working with five Oxbridge candidates for September 2023 entry, and look forward to a significant increase in the number of students securing places at Russell Group universities.“

All the A-Level courses are taught in the building except for the fine art course, with plans to introduce a geography A-Level and potentially a music A-Level at a later date.

One of the pupils, Zakariya Patel, 18, spoke about his experience of the college and has thanked tutors for their help in pushing him to apply for Cambridge University where he hopes to study Physical and Natural Sciences from September 2022.

The former Tauheedul Islam Boys High School pupil, who is studying A-Levels in maths, further maths and physics, thanked his tutors for pushing him to apply for the prestigious university.

Zak said: "The college has been a vital part of getting me there.

"I originally had no intention of applying to a university like Cambridge.

"The college has pushed me and the tutors have pushed me."