Bohunt Sixth Form in Arborfield to open in September 2026

The sixth form extension to the school in Arborfield was meant to be completed to open in September 2023, but funding problems resulted in the delay.

The rural south part of the borough has no sixth form currently, and has also been identified as an area with an emerging shortage in school places.

The school became the first to open in the Wokingham Borough for 50 years, after accepting it’s first intake of pupils in 2017.

The secondary school cost £37 million to build, with a further £10 million required for the sixth form.

Currently, 16-18 year olds mostly travel outside the borough to attend sixth form or college.

Wokingham Borough Council has unveiled new design plans for the extension of Bohunt School, which will teach 300 sixth form students from 2026.

Designs for the sixth form extension (Image: HLM Architects) The academy run by the Bohunt Education Trust was given permission to expand by Wokingham Borough Council in 2022.

But increased construction costs put plans in jeopardy, having risen from £5.7 million in March 2022 to £10.5 million in August 2023, a month before it was meant to open.

It was originally agreed that Bohunt would provide £2 million while the remaining cost of £3.7 million would be funded by the council.

Wokingham Borough Council then agreed in October 2023 to increase its financial contribution to £5.25 million.

The decision of whether to open a sixth form was ‘not in the council’s hands’, according to the executive member for children’s services, Councillor Prue Bray.

There will also be 150 more spaces secured for other year groups at the secondary school.

Bohunt has further committed to improve the school’s facilities for children with special educational needs.

This comes as Arborfield has been identified as an area of the Wokingham Borough with an emerging shortfall in school places.

The village is one of the three largest developments part of Wokingham's local plan, with 2,000 homes being built on the former Arborfield Garrison site.

The council’s executive noted that Shinfield and Arborfield, both areas with high levels of housing being built, were facing ‘challenges’ over school place provision.

While there is a ‘bulge’ of children making its way through the early years of secondary school, there is not a similar shortfall in the lower years of primary.

The council has said that the opening of Bohunt Sixth Form should address the shortfall in provision for the village, given that it will be available for pupils by the time the ‘bulge’ of students reaches sixth form.