At Silverdale School Sixth Form we support academic and individual aspiration for all students. 

We encourage all students to view university as an ambition to follow and provide an array of opportunities
to assist students in fulfilling this.

We are most fortunate to have a strong association with Sheffield Hallam University, which was recently named the UK University of the Year for teaching quality in the Sunday Times Good University Guide. In the summer term our entire Year 12 cohort undertake a full day at a local university. This allows us access to university experiences for our students focused on course choice, career aspiration, apprenticeships and preparing for university life.

We work in partnership with the University of Sheffield through their Discover outreach programme. This provides our students with a wonderful range of experiences in dentistry, medicine, engineering, law and humanities subjects. We are also pleased and proud to be involved in the Discover Uni initiative which has allowed our students from underrepresented areas to experience university life and deepen their understanding of what university has to offer them and the support that is in place to allow them to progress to higher education.

As a school we encourage all students irrespective of social or economic background and we are passionate
in our belief that education is a chief means of achieving social mobility. To this end we work with the Social
Mobility Foundation to ensure our able students from disadvantaged background have equal access to the opportunities available, including residential courses with major employers and mentoring from Year 12 until
university graduation. Through this work students from Silverdale Sixth Form have gone on to become the first generation in their family to achieve degrees and post graduate employment.

With attainment and progress at Silverdale Sixth Form being amongst the highest nationally we also focus
aspiration to the highest national level. To support this aim we run Oxbridge and Russell Group sessions within school as well as attending the Sheffield Oxbridge Conference each year. Furthermore, we
are a member of the Villiers Park Educational Trust ‘Inspiring Excellence Programme’ allowing our most able students to take part in subject specific residential courses run by leading experts in the field. The courses have helped our students to enhance their skills and knowledge in a chosen subject and extend their higher education and career goals.