Tertiary education for high school students is seeing greater options with two private schools announcing that they are planning to set up post graduate programmes.

A sixth form Advanced International Certificate of Education or AICE, is slated to begin in September at Warwick Academy. Plans for the programme, open only to students currently at the school, were advanced by three years.

"It was the students themselves who asked us to begin this September,'' noted headmaster Robert Lennox. "We had planned to start this particular programme two to three years from now.'' The AISCE programme is a designation from Cambridge University in England.

Warwick Academy currently runs the International GCSE, also from Cambridge University and considered the precursor to the AISCE.

Cambrae Hall, a building owned by the school and on the campus, will be adapted for use as the new sixth form. Currently used to house teachers, the five-apartment dwelling unit will provide ample space, according to Mr.

Lennox, for the facilities needed for the AISCE programme.

"There will be room for 27 students in the programme this September, but that figure will grow to 50 next year and 100 the year after,'' he said.

While there is not enough room for all 43 fifth-year students currently enrolled at Warwick Academy, Mr. Lennox said he does not anticipate complaints over a lack of space.

"Not everyone will be interested in the programme,'' he added.

In two to three years, Warwick Academy is also hoping to introduce the International Baccalaureate programme.

"This is a truly international qualification,'' Mr. Lennox explained. "It began in Switzerland and although originally designed for entrance to European universities, it is now well recognised all over the world.'' Meanwhile, Bermuda High School for Girls (BHS) has just submitted its application to operate the International Baccalaureate at their school.

Headmistress Eleanor Kingsbury told The Royal Gazette that she has invited a team to come and assess the school this fall.

"After that has taken place we should know by about November whether we have been accepted,'' she said.

BHS aims to set up an IB Centre in a separate building on the present school grounds and plans to accept qualified candidates from other schools.