What if your child gets no sixth form place?

[Practicalpam]

DS is in Yr11. After poor mocks am wondering what happens if he does not get grades for 6th form. Should we apply to college now as well? What is the legal situation if he gets no place? Have even looked at apprenticeships round here but they either require A levels or ability to drive (DS is 15).

[floppyjogger]

I'm wondering the same thing.

DD got her mock results today and her favourite letter appears to be 'D'

She will have to get 5 Cs or above to attend any of our local 6th form colleges or stay on at school so it looks like we will be looking at apprenticeships in hair dressing as that's the only local ones on offer.

She hates touching anyones hair so we are in for a fun few months if she continues in the 'D' bracket!

Where do all of the non academic kids go now if they can no longer work at 16

[bojorojo]

6th form colleges should offer a range of BTECs and they should have courses for lower achievers. That is why many colleges are putting English and Maths revision courses in place because students who do not have a C have to take them again. If everyone had a C then this cwould not be necessary. There may also be apprenticeships. I would start looking because there must be more than hairdressing!! If the Ds in Maths and English can become Cs then a bit of the pressure is off but I would look at the different layers of BTECs and see which your DCs might actually access. What are the destinations of the schools leavers from your schools that do not get the higher grades? The school must know, so ask them for advice. They cannot all go into hairdressing!

I would also think that a 6th form offering only A levels would be a non starter unless the Ds become Bs in enough subjects. They must have some education until they are 18 so you will find there are other providers and apprenticeships . Near me there is an Industry Training College that does a range of courses linked to placements in local industry. The FE College in my nearby town does a whole range of health, tourism, catering, beauty, construction and business BTECs (and probably more) at different levels. The only difficulty is that sometimes a lot of travelling can be involved to access courses not offered at the nearest college.

[TeenAndTween]

Colleges will offer Level 2 BTECs (which are GCSE level) as well as Level 3 ( which are A level)

If they don't get good enough GCSEs for A level or L3 BTEC, they can do Level 2, often alongside retaking English and/or Maths.

Definitely apply for college as well. Nothing to lose. you don't want to be grabbing around in August making rushed decisions.

floppy There must be other options you haven't uncovered yet - keep looking!

[eatyourveg]

Some people don't apply to college until after the results are out - some don't apply until the day before term starts - enrolment goes on for several weeks but it is wise to apply early to have the peace of mind that there is a plan B.

Floppy Don't panic. Our college and most other FE colleges will have courses covering a huge range of levels. Some students who have significant additional needs come to take preparation for adulthood/life skills classes. Other students come with typical profiles of Es Fs and Gs at GCSE and will take a level 1 course and progress to the level 2 after a year, those with mostly Ds and a few Cs will take a level 2 course and move up to level 3 if they pass and can manage the workload and those with 5 Cs and above will take level 3 either BTEC or A levels.

Look on the websites of your local FE colleges and see what courses they do. There will be more choice than hairdressing.

[Ludoole]

My ds is applying for a mixture of a-level colleges and btec level 3 courses. He's a definite A/B grade student across the board but he loves the idea of more vocational courses. Currently hes applied for a-levels at 2 colleges and applied for 3 places to do level 3 applied science.
He tells me that its not the journey to getting to where he wants, its all about the destination

[sashh]

Have a look at FE colleges and their courses.

They usually offer level 1, 2 and 3 courses with some also doing HNC/D courses.

Level 1 courses are equivalent to GCSE grade D-G
Level 2 courses are equivalent to GCSE grade A*-C
Level 3 courses are equivalent to A Level.

And what floppy says - no point attempting hairdressing if she doesn't like hair.

[AnitaChopraMatch]

Dear Practicalpam

There are a number of options open to your DS. The position will depend on whether she is seeking admission to a school (including their sixth form) or a FE college. For a school, you will generally have the right to appeal to an independent Panel if no place is offered. Although, at sixth form there may have academic entry requirements. For FE colleges their own regulations will determine whether any right of appeal applies. Many school sixth forms and FE colleges offer courses other than the traditional A-levels from GCSE re-takes to BTECs and HNDs.

[Lonelycher123]

My son wants to do computer science that's if he can get into y12 with good grades. Does he need to be doing maths with it? The school is very difficult to speak to.

I think to get into Uni to study computer science you have to have maths A level? Please help. My husband doesn't help me out on this, he just critisces. I'm so fed up. And now my sons giving up, not interested in doing well.

[OzzieFem]

Yes he does need to do A level maths if he wishes to go to a top uni. However, some unis will accept lower levels of maths. Suggest you check out this link and investigate the entry requirements.

www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings?s=computer%20science

[Lonelycher123]

Hi Ozziefem

Thanks for responding. I will need toeing the Universities up because their sites don't really explain for computer science.
He's in yr 11 and didn't choose A level maths because they didn't say he needed it with computer science, but they did say that for sixth form Physics you had to do Maths too. The school never rings me back.
When you say they may accept lower levels of maths do you mean GCSE maths, he'll be lucky if he gets a B in that. I'm not feeling well. The stress has made me ill.
Feel like giving up with everything.

[Lonelycher123]

If a miracle happens and he gets A or B in he's GCSE maths he will be able to get into sixth form maths A level. Because he hasn't chose Maths A Level as he didn't think he could get into Maths A level. I don't know what to do. When he was applying for sixth form they should have told him he needed Maths. I waswondering if GCSE maths would be enough to get into uni, if he manages to get A in Comouter science

[OzzieFem]

Some unis such as Plymouth will accept a B grade Mathematics GCSE. Anything lower that that would have to be negotiated, again, depending on the uni. He would probably need at least two, possibly three A levels as well.

What may be more relevant is that you try to pick, say, 10 unis at a time that your son would like to attend, then go onto the individual websites and check out the course requirements. Aim to get at least 5 possibles for your UCAS forms.

[OzzieFem]

OP - Sometimes poor mock results is like a kick in the pants and motivates students to work harder.

[FozzieMK]

He could also think about studying a BTEC level 3 Extended in Computing which would give him equivalent of 3 A-Levels. My DD had a C in GCSE maths and went on to college to do a Level 2 and then a Level 3 BTEC in Computing. She is on target for 3 Distinctions and has been offered 4 Uni places, 2 unconditional and bursaries for her high grades.

[ButtonLoon]

For those looking into apprenticeships, you can use the national apprenticeship finder to see what's available in your area. Remember that new apprenticeships come up all the time. In my county, there are actually more apprenticeships than applicants, but I'm sure this varies a lot.

If an apprenticeship requires a levels, then it's usually an "advanced" apprenticeship. There are also traineeships which are sort of a bridge between GCSEs and apprenticeship and employment, but they are unpaid.

[ButtonLoon]

Sorry didn't notice this was el zombie thread.

[Thefishewife]

That's why you apply for collage as well as 6th form

[Jahsis]

Hello all .. we are moved here few months back my son who turned 18 this month has done his O level with good grades A to C and As result is not upto that level from the country we move ... now we want him to do his A levels but 6 th form A level are not encouraging him to give admission and pushed him to do excess to uni courses as he will turne 19 next year .. and private colleges are very expensive ... many universities does not except Btec and diploma courses as alternate ... pls kindly any of you can help me in this .. this stressed me a lot as my son doesn't want to waste his year...

[LIZS]

You'd be better starting a new thread for your query as this one is old. However the issue will be that funding for level 3 courses (A level, extended Btec diploma etc) stops at 19 so he wouldn't be able to complete a 2 year course in time. Typically courses start in September with exams in June. You may find a further education college willing to accept him next September on level 3 or an Access course instead if he can self fund the second year. Many unis will accept equivalent qualifications for all but the most competitive courses or use a tariff of UCAS points which can include extra curricular subjects like music exams.

[Mary21]

Have you looked at online schools such as InterHigh ,they tend to be cheaper
interhigh.co.uk/learning/sixth-form-college/
Or correspondence courses.
Many further ed colleges will take older students but you may have to pay as education is only free up to 19
This may be helpful
issuu.com/richmondcollege/docs/adult_course_guide_2017-18_web

[Bekabeech]

For Sixth form you can hold offers for more than one place. My DCs school did gently encourage students to hold one "back up" offer.
Although there may be places after results day it is better to apply now. Because, colleges may fill all their classes but if they got lots of applicants might have run an extra class or even employed an extra teacher. If they get too few applicants they might cancel a course - but your DS might have just boosted numbers enough to make it viable.