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Higher education

Considering independent for 6th form - any tips?

7 replies

zifermama · 28/06/2017 17:04

DD is in Y9 but looking ahead I am thinking of offering to pay for her to go to an independent 6th form. She is really bright and her state school finishes at 16. The options at that point are limited but there is an independent 6th form not too far away with outstanding results at A level, as all her friends will be going separate ways I am pretty sure she would be keen but haven't discussed with her yet as don't want her to get over excited before we have costed it out!

We have not considered private education before because we couldn't really afford it and our local state secondary is very good, but I am interested to hear from anyone who has sent their DC to independent school 6th form after a state secondary experience.

Is it something you would recommend? What made you do it? Obviously it's also all dependent on her getting a place I realise!

OP posts:
BubblesBuddy · 28/06/2017 17:40

Should this be in Secondary Education for more traffic?

zifermama · 28/06/2017 17:59

Sorry yes it probably should, I'll move it! Thanks

OP posts:
evenstrangerthings · 28/06/2017 20:18

Which part of the country are you in? London has some excellent new selective state 6th Forms such as Harris Westminster, Kings Maths School and London Academy of Excellence. Kings Maths School achieved 100% A/A star at A-Level Maths last year.

Lucysky2017 · 28/06/2017 22:43

My children were at fee paying schools throughout but welcomed children from state schools into their sixth forms. It works fine. It works the other way too - my twins have had boys in their class leave private school after GCSEs for state sixth forms too. People move between sectors all the time.

Have a look at what universities people end up at from the private school and the local secondaries you are considering and what A level grades - look at % at A*/A at A level in particular and Oxbridge and other top universities gone on to.

GoneDownhill · 29/06/2017 02:04

Quite a few of my friends DC did this and it worked out brilliantly for some and badly for others. Some got fantastic results and others got really disappointing ones. They did seemed to get a lot more advice and help re university applications.
My DC had the choice to go private, to a grammar in the next county or to the local ' average' huge sixth form college. They all chose the college. The teaching was generally good but there were one or two crappy teachers. I'd hope that wouldn't happen at a private school

I think choosing to go to the local college made my DC work extra hard as they wanted to prove they had chosen the best place for themselves. I think they could have probably got an extra grade here or there with their Alevels but nothing that made a difference - they mostly got As and A stars with the odd B --- I'd suspect thosenodd Bs would be an A in a private school but who knows.

Some of their DC who did less well at private school could have done even worse at the local school. It's hard to know.

If the school gets great results and your daughter would like to go then it seems like a good plan.

tropicalfish · 02/07/2017 11:08

We thought about sending our DC to private sixth form but would only have thought it worthwhile if they were going to a top one. I sought the advice of a Friend with slightly older DC who advised me against it. Maybe it depends on the subject but for maths the pace is so fast that it is easy to get left behind and then lose the ability to catch up necessitating dropping the subject for a2. This situation could perhaps more easily happen going to a new school and trying to socialise to make new friends. My dc was already attending a top grammar school. Obviously independent school would have cost £££.
So DC stayed in grammar and is now going to a top uni in UK. They had a few rubbish teachers which was cause for concern but private schools don't have to employ qualified teachers so you should find out exactly what their qualifications are. You can also get not so good teachers anywhere.
I don't regret DC staying in grammar. We thought they would have more chance of Oxbridge with the independent but in the end it didn't make any difference.
University is really expensive, you may prefer to help them out financially there. Also maybe the money would be more useful as a deposit for a property.
As someone else on this thread has stated, look at the university destinations and compare.

Kez100 · 10/07/2017 11:49

Look at your local colleges. My DS and DD had a choice of about 5 places to go to and both went to outstanding ones. I would look at that option first. Then, if not available, consider private. They are very important exams.

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