St David's Catholic Sixth Form College

Name

St David's Catholic Sixth Form College

Legal name

St David's Catholic Sixth Form College

Website

https://stdavidscollege.ac.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

St David's Catholic Sixth Form College is the only Catholic sixth form college in Wales, delivering A Levels, BTECs, and WJEC Diplomas to students aged 16-19 in Cardiff through publicly funded programmes complemented by international student recruitment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Sixth Form Further Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310), Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Workforce Development & Continuing Education Divisions (Noncredit) (EDAHADAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

Keywords

• Sixth form education
• A Level programmes
• Vocational qualifications
• Further education college
• Pastoral support services

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Welsh Government Further Education Funding: As a publicly funded further education college in Wales, St David's College receives core funding from the Welsh Government to deliver education to students aged 16-19. This constitutes the primary revenue stream.
2. International Student Fees: The college recruits international students and charges fees for their education. It runs a programme welcoming students from Switzerland and other countries, with host family arrangements. These international fees supplement public funding.
3. Financial Support Disbursement: The college administers government financial support schemes for students including EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance), FCF (Financial Contingency Fund), and Free School Meals. While these are pass-through funds, the college's role in distributing them supports student retention and recruitment.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

St David's Catholic Sixth Form College delivers post-16 A Level, BTEC and WJEC Diploma education to 16–19 year olds from its Cardiff campus, embedded within a Catholic ethos that integrates pastoral support, spiritual reflection and the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales. It complements academic study with enrichment such as the Honours Programme, Heritage Languages, Football, Basketball, Rugby and E-Sports Academies, Duke of Edinburgh Award, and the Learner Support Centre for Additional Learning Needs. The Launchpad department supports student progression to university, apprenticeships, employment or self-employment, with domestic places publicly funded by the Welsh Government and international students recruited on a fee-paying basis.

Product overview

St David's Catholic Sixth Form College is a single-site Catholic sixth form college in Cardiff, Wales, offering a unified educational programme for students aged 16-19. The core academic provision consists of A Levels, BTECs, and WJEC Diplomas, supported by the St David's Core programme components (Pastoral Support, Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales, and Spiritual Reflection). The college offers enrichment through the Honours Programme for academically gifted students and Heritage Languages. Extra-curricular sports include Football Academy, Basketball Academy, Rugby Academy, and E-Sports teams. Student support services include the Learner Support Centre (LSC) and Launchpad careers service. The college is the only Catholic college in Wales and serves students from approximately 50 different nations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• A Levels

Quantifiable outcome

• 30.4% of A Level grades in 2025 were A* or A; 80.6% were A* to C — surpassing national averages
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Cardiff University (Rugby Programme)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 June 2026St David's College announced a new affiliation with Cardiff University's rugby programme, creating a clear pathway for talented young people in Wales to combine academic ambition with high-level rugby in Cardiff. Staff from both institutions will collaborate to identify students with the academic ability and sporting potential to compete in BUCS High-Level Rugby. Students will benefit from specialist pitch training, mentoring, and tailored guidance through the university application process. The collaboration is designed to complement students' studies and will begin before the 2026-27 academic year, with the first students identified and supported from October 2026.
• Welsh Partner Schools (Catholic Secondary Schools)coreOthersSt David's College maintains formal outreach relationships with Catholic secondary schools across Wales through its Schools Outreach and Liaison programme. Schools use a dedicated outreach request form to invite the college to attend or deliver activities at their school. The college also offers enhanced transition support for learners with Individual Development Plans (IDPs), with the Director of Additional Learning Needs (Haley Hughes) coordinating with partner schools for Annual Review meetings.
• Barnes Host FamiliescoreOthersBarnes Host Families manages the host family arrangements for international students at St David's College. The programme welcomes groups of students from Switzerland (since September 2021) and other countries for one academic year. Barnes Host Families provides year-round support to both host families and students outside of the college, helping ensure a positive experience. Students are housed from September to end of June, with host families providing a caring environment, meals, and a study room.
• Estyn (Welsh education inspectorate)minorOthersEstyn inspects and reports on the quality of education and training provided in Wales. St David's College participates in Estyn inspections. Some staff have experience undertaking Section 10 inspections for Estyn.
• FEjobsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSt David's College publishes all its job vacancies on FEjobs, a dedicated further education jobs platform. This is the primary channel for recruiting staff to the college.
• Google Ads / Facebook / Instagram AdvertisingminorGTM or Marketing PartnerThe college uses cookies to track website visitors and deliver personalised advertisements on social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) and websites using Google Ads. This enables retargeting of prospective students and their families.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Gower College Swansea: Welsh further education college offering A Levels, BTECs and vocational pathways for 16–19 year olds; operates in the same Welsh post-16 market with a comparable curriculum mix but different geography (Swansea).
• Cathedral School (Cardiff): Catholic independent school in Cardiff with a sixth form; operates in the same catchment and shares the Catholic identity, so it competes for faith-aligned families in the same geography as St David's.

Direct peers

• Coleg y Cymoedd: Large Welsh further education college and the third member of the strategic alliance with St David's and Cardinal Newman; offers a comparable 16–19 further education mix and competes for the same Welsh post-16 student pool.
• Hills Road Sixth Form College: Large, high-performing secular sixth form college in Cambridge known for outstanding A Level results and strong university progression — directly comparable in scale, curriculum mix (A Levels/BTECs) and outcomes-focused proposition.
• St Brendan's Sixth Form College: Catholic sixth form college in Bristol serving 16–19 year olds with A Levels and BTECs — a near-identical faith-based sixth form college model operating in a different region, making it the closest direct peer.
• Cardinal Newman School: Catholic secondary school in Cardiff with a sixth form; one of St David's key strategic-alliance partners (alongside Coleg y Cymoedd) and a direct feeder/competitor for the same Catholic post-16 student pool.
• Cardiff Sixth Form College: Independent co-educational sixth form college in Cardiff offering A Levels; competes for the same Cardiff post-16 student pool and offers a directly comparable curriculum mix (though secular/independent).

Others

• Estyn: Welsh education inspectorate that inspects and reports on the quality of education and training in Wales; St David's is inspected by Estyn, making it the primary regulator and benchmark setter for the college's outcomes.
• WJEC (Welsh Joint Education Committee): Examining body for many of St David's qualifications (A Levels, GCSEs, Applied). Provides the curriculum and assessment infrastructure underpinning the college's academic offering and progression data.

Broad incumbents

• Trinity Saint David (University of Wales): Welsh higher education institution offering post-16 and degree pathways including teacher education; broader incumbent spanning further and higher education, providing an overlapping but wider portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/stdavidscoll
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwNhFDZhv6hRmJJmmEjNsDQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/stdavidscatholiccollege
• Instagraminstagram.com/stdavidscollege

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about St David's Catholic Sixth Form College