Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College, or QE as it is commonly known, is a

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

on Vane Terrace in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

, County Durham, England. It educates nearly 2000 students from Darlington and the surrounding areas with students coming from Stockton,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act 1946, New Towns Act of 1946, the town is to the north of Darlington and to the south of Durham, England, Durham. It is the ...

and elsewhere. It is situated near the town centre, next to Stanhope Park.

History

It was established in 1970 on the site of the old Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, designed by George Gordon Hoskins. The original educational establishment was commissioned by Queen

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, hence the name. Much of the building was refurbished following a fire in 1987 and on 17 April 1991, the Duchess of Kent opened the library. In 2004 a large extension was completed, the Trinity building, including a new sports hall, art department and atrium study area, increasing the capacity of students. In 2012 another extension was completed with the Stanhope building, designed to house creative arts and media, as well as a refurbishment of the library with more computer and study areas.

Admissions

Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College has almost 2000 students, mostly aged 16–18. It offers around 40 full-time AS and

A level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

courses, some vocational courses and

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a range of subjects taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, having been introduced in September 1986 and its first exams taken in 1988. State schools ...

s, as well as several part-time evening classes. For most students the college requires that applicants have at least 6 GCSEs at grades 5 (old grade C) to 9 (old grade A*) to begin A level courses.

Academic performance

A level results for 2011 had over 99% pass rate and over 60% A*-B grades.

Alumni

Jenny Chapman Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington (born 25 September 1973) is a British politician and life peer who has served as Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean since 2025. She previously served a ...

, Labour peer *

Alex Cunningham Alexander Cunningham (born 1 May 1955) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stockton North from 2010 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he was Shadow Minister for Courts and Sentencing. Born in Scotland an ...

, Labour MP for Stockton North (2010–present) *

Theo Hutchcraft Theo David Hutchcraft (born 30 August 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of the synthpop duo Hurts. Early life Theo David Hutchcraft was born on 30 August 1986 in Richmond, North Yorkshire. He attend ...

, one half of synth-pop duo,

Hurts Hurts may refer to: * Pain, injury or suffering * Hurts (duo), British musical duo * Hurts (song), "Hurts" (song), by Emeli Sandé, 2016 * "Hurts", a song by Lany from ''LANY (album), LANY'', 2017 * "Hurts", a song by Mika from ''No Place in Heaven ...

* Robert Icke, Olivier award-winning theatre director and writer * Jane Kennedy, Labour MP for

Liverpool Wavertree Liverpool Wavertree is a borough constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1997 and every election since has been won by a Labour Party candidate. It has been represented by Paula Barker since 2019. An earlier co ...

(1992–2010) * Philippa Langley, discoverer of Richard III's body. *

Scarlett Moffatt Scarlett Sigourney Leigh Moffatt (born 17 October 1990) is a British television personality and presenter, best known for appearing in the Channel 4 programme ''Gogglebox''. She won the sixteenth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of He ...

, television personality * Alan Strickland, Labour MP for

Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Following the completion of the 2023 review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. The seat was won by Ala ...

(2024–present) * Andrea Sutcliffe, chief executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (1980–2)

Queen Elizabeth Grammar School

* Bentley Beetham (1886–1963), mountaineer, ornithologist and photographer * Sir Geoffrey Cass, chief executive of

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

from 1972 to 1992 (1933–40) *

Aidan Chambers Aidan Chambers (27 December 1934 – 11 May 2025) was a British author of children's and young-adult novels. He won both the British Carnegie Medal and the American Printz Award for '' Postcards from No Man's Land'' (1999). For his "lastin ...

, children's novelist who wrote '' Postcards from No Man's Land'' (1946–53) * Norman Creek (1909–14) * David Daniell, Professor of English from 1992 to 1994 at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

(1940–7) * Bernard Dixon, science writer (1949–56) * Sir Robert Bland Dixon, former President of the Institute of Marine Engineers (1878–85) * Walter Ernest Dixon (1870–1931), pharmacologist. *

David Harker David Harker (October 19, 1906 – February 27, 1991) was an American medical researcher who according to ''The New York Times'' was "a pioneer in the use of X-rays to decipher the structure of critical substances in the life process of cells". ...

, Chief Executive of

Citizens Advice Citizens AdviceCitizens Advice is the operating name of The National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux, which is the umbrella charity for a wider network of local advice centres. The abbreviation CitA is sometimes used to refer to this natio ...

(1962–69) * Ian Hamilton, poet (1949–56) * William Henderson, 1st Baron Henderson, Labour MP for Enfield from 1923 to 1924 and 1929–31 (1902–09) * Cecil Kidd, Regius Professor of Physiology from 1984 to 1997 at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

(1944–51) *

Angus Maddison Angus Maddison (6 December 1926 – 24 April 2010) was a distinguished British economist specialising in quantitative macro economic history, including the measurement and analysis of economic growth and development. Maddison lectured at sev ...

, economist (1938–45) * Sir Eric Miller, industrialist (1893–1900) * Eric Neil (1918–1990), physiologist. * Edward Pearce, political journalist, (1950–7) * Chapman Pincher, journalist (1925–32) * James Francis Tait, Joel Professor of Physics as Applied to Medicine from 1970 to 1982 at

(1937–44) * Sir Alan Wilson, Vice-Chancellor from 1991 to 2004 of the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

(1950–7)

References

External links

College website

2005 League tables

EduBase
{{authority control Learning and Skills Beacons Education in the Borough of Darlington Sixth form colleges in County Durham Schools in Darlington Educational institutions established in 1970 1970 establishments in England