Throughout HRH the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee year, Queen Mary’s College is celebrating its own jubilee festivities.

Based in Basingstoke, QMC is one of the best sixth form colleges in Hampshire with a 50-year history of providing quality education to 16-19 year olds.

The college is rightfully proud of its successful history and always keeps focussed on the future, adapting to changing times and new industries and technology, to meet the needs and interests of young people today.

Before the 1970s, the character of sixth form education was based on the assumption that only a small minority of young people were clever enough to benefit from an A-level programme. QMC opened in 1972 to promote a different concept where students of all abilities have the potential to be high achievers and are supported to achieve their full potential.

Basingstoke Gazette: QMC logo

Every year around 75 per cent of Queen Mary’s College students go on to Higher Education courses. Whether it’s traditional academic courses, highly specific vocational degrees, medical training, Art and Performing Arts courses or Oxford and Cambridge University students are very well supported and prepared to progress to HE. Others go straight into employment, putting into practice the transferable skills they have learnt during their studies while some take a gap year doing interesting things such as travelling or community work.

The college experience is more than just academic study and students benefit from a supportive pastoral system and broad enrichment programme to enhance their studies and ensure they achieve their potential. Many student programmes are given an added dimension through the college’s varied enrichment programme and connections with local and national businesses.

Mark Henderson, college principal, said: "If you are 16 to 19 years of age, I cannot think of a better educational environment than the one provided by Queen Mary’s College. We have excellent teachers and support staff who are specialists in their area and thoroughly enjoy working with young people to ensure they reach their full potential.

"We also have a large and leafy campus with outstanding specialist facilities, allowing students to learn in an engaging and exciting way. This is also reflected in our curriculum offer, which is wide ranging and full of opportunities to gain qualifications and embrace enrichment activities such as clubs, societies, work experience, sport, DofE, and many more. Life at QMC goes far beyond the classroom doors!

"I am very proud that QMC has been at the educational heart of the local and wider Basingstoke community for so long and I am excited by the role that QMC will continue to play in developing skills and ambitions that allow young people to flourish for the next 50 years and beyond.”