ALTON College has unveiled plans for a new-look college day, starting in September.

It is a bold and inspired step which is expected to benefit both the health and learning capacity of its students, reflecting its status as one of Hampshire’s top performing sixth-form colleges and a leader in innovation.

The key benefits of the new day are that students will have around 50 hours more teaching time each year, they will start their day at 10am, and have greater scope for enrichment activities. The fresh approach to timetabling is based on academic research into the optimum learning methods for teenagers.

Sara Russell, principal at Alton College, which attracts students from across East Hampshire, said: “We took the decision to adapt our current model based on the academic research and from feedback over time from students and members of the college community. The main benefit is that the new day provides students with increased teaching time, around one-and-a-half hours per week, which is more than most colleges and school sixth -forms offer. There are also fewer, longer lessons which will give a fantastic opportunity to really explore subjects.”

She gave an assurance, however, that although the longer lesson is up to three hours in length, this didn’t mean students sitting still and being forced to concentrate for the duration without a break.

The advantage of starting later in the day is based on evidence from many academics.

Colin Epsie, professor of sleep medicine in the Nuffield department of clinical neuroscience at Oxford University, explained the research findings on teenage sleep patterns in The Guardian.

“We know that something funny happens when you’re a teenager, in that you seem to be out of sync with the world,” he said. “Your parents think it’s because you’re lazy and opinionated and everything would be okay if you could get to sleep earlier. But science is telling us that teenagers need to sleep more in the mornings.”

Dr Paul Kelly, from the Open University and formerly research associate at the Nuffield department of clinical neurosciences, agreed and applied this to teenage learning. Having been in contact with “sleep experts” from the UK and internationally, he said: “Teenage years are critical for both education and health. During late adolescence, major physical changes mean teenagers need more sleep. In addition, biological changes occur, making them naturally wake up and go to sleep later in the day. The later start will improve learning, partly because they will be in better health, and partly because they learn better later in the day.”

Ms Russell continued: “For many years, students living outside of the town have found the early start time of 8.50am difficult. We have up to 2,000 students a year from around 80 different schools travelling across four counties to study with us. Some of them are leaving their homes before 7am to get here. Coupled with the academic research which informs us that teenagers learn better later in the day, the benefits of changing our start time to 10am are obvious.”

She said the majority of students travel in by bus and the college is working with public bus company Stagecoach to ensure that the buses will arrive in time for a 10am timetable start, but if students wish to come in earlier for independent study time, there will be earlier buses that arrive around 9am.

Martin Gibbon, operations manager for Stagecoach in Basingstoke and Andover, said: “Having worked in partnership with Alton College for many years to provide transport for thousands of students across Hampshire, Surrey and West Sussex, we are pleased to support them with their new college day.

“We are happy to adapt our service to ensure students can arrive and leave to fit with the new timetable launching in September. No changes to the existing routes will be necessary to accommodate this.”

Describing the new-look college day as “a really positive change”, assistant principal Jon Myers said: “It is more aligned to a university-style programme and the increased teaching time per year will equate to around 50 extra hours for students on the first year of an A-level programme.

“It provides an even better way of learning which, in turn, will better prepare students for their futures. There will also be more opportunity for enrichment activities and for part-time working.”

Mr Myers said that last year 29 per cent of A-level students who studied at Alton College went on to achieve a first-class honours degree compared to 22 per cent nationally.

He also confirmed that the college would continue to open at 8.30am and close at 5pm.

The new timetable will be in place, he said, for all students apart from the skills for learning students who will remain on the traditional timetable with the same start and end of day timings.

He also described the new personal tutor time.

“Tutor sessions will take place at the end of the morning lesson, with the teacher who has just taught the lesson. This will be a session with a small group of students focusing on academic progress and progression. In addition, there will be a large weekly group ‘forum’ session where specialist staff will cover a range of issues from UCAS to apprenticeships and resilience to cyber safety.”