Thorpe Park Leeds Sixth Form College Approved

SGI partners with Willmott Dixon and Delta Academies Trust on a 90,000 sq ft purpose-built college at Thorpe Park Leeds, creating a direct talent pipeline for the 100 businesses and 7,500 professionals already based on site

Scarborough Group International is planning a 1,000-place purpose-built sixth form college at Thorpe Park Leeds in partnership with Willmott Dixon and Delta Academies Trust. The proposed 90,000 sq ft, four-storey facility will provide post-16 education combining A Levels with technical and vocational routes including T Levels and V Levels, with specialist spaces for building services engineering, education and early years, and hair and beauty. Delta Academies Trust, which currently delivers sixth form provision at Garforth Academy, intends to relocate its post-16 offer to the new dedicated college, allowing Garforth Academy to refocus on 11-16 provision. Subject to planning approval and Department for Education sign-off, the college will sit adjacent to the 150-acre Green Park and benefit from a new railway station being progressed by WYCA and Network Rail.

Why This Matters For Leeds

A sixth form college creates a direct talent pipeline from education to employment on the same campus. The day after the West Yorkshire Promise guaranteed work experience for every young person, this is infrastructure to help deliver it in East Leeds.

What the Thorpe Park Leeds College Will Offer

The college is expected to offer a broad curriculum supporting progression to higher education, apprenticeships, and employment. Early proposals include specialist vocational spaces alongside traditional A Level routes. Andy Barnett, CEO at Delta Academies Trust, said the vision is to create a centre of excellence where students can access an ambitious curriculum, outstanding teaching, and a rich programme of personal development. He described Thorpe Park as providing a unique location at the heart of a thriving business community, creating exciting opportunities for meaningful employer engagement and real-world learning. Public consultation runs from 19 June to 17 July 2026, with a public exhibition at Garforth Academy on 2 July. A planning application is expected later this year.

“Bringing forward a new sixth form college is a significant step in that journey. It strengthens Thorpe Park as an ecosystem, linking education, opportunity and employment, and creates a talent pathway for the 100-plus businesses already based here, as well as those still to come.”

— Adam Varley, Development Director, Scarborough Group International

Thorpe Park’s Growing East Leeds Ecosystem

Over 25 years, Thorpe Park has delivered more than one million sq ft of workspace, retail and leisure at The Springs, and 300 homes through a land sale to Redrow. Under its revised masterplan, the development is proposed to grow to more than 2.8 million sq ft including office space, industrial units, hospitality, and residential. The planned college joins a growing list of SGI investments across Leeds: the Integral development of up to 555,000 sq ft at Brown Moor goes to the east plans panel this week, and HiVE Places launched with three institutional partnerships earlier this month. With a new railway station being progressed by WYCA and Network Rail, Thorpe Park Leeds is evolving from a business park into a mixed-use ecosystem where people can learn, work, and live on the same site.