A FINCHAMPSTEAD councillor presented another petition for a Bohunt sixth form at the council meeting last week.
Cllr Charles Margetts, who represents Finchampstead North, said 1,325 residents were calling for post-16 provision in the area.
He said opening the facility at Bohunt Wokingham would reduce congestion, as many students currently travel out of the borough to continue learning.
“The public is speaking and making their voice clear,” he said. “There are many reasons to progress a sixth form in Bohunt.
“There’s been increased house building to the south of Wokingham for the last 10 years, the local population has grown and will continue to expand in current years.
“If houses are built, we need the services to support them.”
This September, 89% of students that finished Year 11 at Bohunt will leave the borough to continue their education.
READ MORE: Bracknell MP joins call for sixth form at Bohunt
The trust said without a sixth form, more than 400 pupils from the school are predicted to leave the borough by 2022.
A spokesperson for the trust said the vast majority of pupils want to stay on at Bohunt Wokingham, and said the loss of pupils is concerning.
They said: “It has already been publicly identified that within two years, there will be insufficient sixth form places in the borough and that situation is set to worsen steadily.
“With further housing development in the south of the borough yet to be completed, the situation locally is already critical, and with numbers of Year 6 students needing secondary places also increasing, there is a pressing need for additional capacity in the system.”
Neil Strowger, Bohunt Education Trust leader said the school is offering a solution.
“The site at Bohunt Wokingham was originally designed to have scope for substantial increase in capacity and, with the area facing not only these challenges but also an urgent
need to increase the range of provision on offer at post-16 level, we offer an obvious and ‘oven-baked’ solution,” he said.
“We have explored building design options to help facilitate meeting this need and have offered a significant contribution towards the construction costs from our own reserves.”
READ MORE: Bohunt parents launch second petition for sixth form in south Wokingham area
Cllr Graham Howe, executive member for children’s services at the borough council, said they will be looking into the issue in autumn.
“The work will include considering current capacity, future projections and solutions to meet future need,” he said.
“We are aware of the aspiration for a sixth form provision at Bohunt Wokingham and are engaging with them on their ideas and plans.
“As a responsible local authority, we will do what we can to support all of Wokingham schools to develop and thrive in the best interests of all children and young people in the borough, while keeping in mind the impact on other schools in the borough.”
The spokesperson for the trust said discussions with the council have included the potential for a bespoke facility for post-16 students.
It may also offer T Levels, new courses which follow GCSEs and are equivalent to three A-levels.
They added: “We are all hopeful that, together with Wokingham Borough Council we will be able to find a swift and sustainable solution to meet our children’s needs now and in the future.”
