6th Form or college and why did you choose one over the other ?

I don`t doubt the effects of bullying can stay with you for a long time.

Also if they are still up to their old tricks at that age that is very sad.

but both are on their way to becoming adults

Not sure what you mean by this. DD is 22 now and the long term effects of the horrible bullying she endured are still with her. And by all accounts, the nasty bully is still up to her old tricks.

That is sad to hear but both are on their way to becoming adults

I agree @TeenDivided. In our case the logistics of DD going to school on a 15 minute bus journey vs a 40 minute train journey on an hourly and unreliable train service, plus a half hour walk made it a no brainer.

Plus the viciously nasty bully who made DD's life an abject misery would have been on the same train (only 2 coaches, so difficult to avoid her).

Oh don't be ridiculous. On this thread and your other thread there have been plenty of reasons given why a school 6th form might better suit some kids.

No choice were we live nonschools have 6th forms only sixth form.colleges or colleges that are more vocational..inhave to say as a stepping stone to uni it works better and allows an amazing choice of subjects . No uniform and we need to pay for the bus though

6th form should be scrapped everyone should go to college

Ah that makes sense, thank you, I misread the OP and thought we were comparing school 6th form to 6th form college. If comparing two settings which offer completely different academic paths I imagine it usually makes the decision a lot easier!

@stoneysongs
The closest college isn’t 6th form, it does maths and English GCSE retakes, but otherwise BTecs, diplomas etc. Lots of DDs school friends went there and are doing ok as far as she knows.

DD is doing Maths, Biology and Chemistry. She could have gone to another school 6th Form (2 in the area) or a college 10 miles away to do them, but it was better for her to stay at her school 6th.

We chose college over 6th form for the same reason as @Pixiedust1234 . Out daughter struggled in years 10and 11 due to the bitchyness and bullying .
She enjoyed the grown up aspect of being responsible for herself ,it was totally different to school she was treated as an adult at all times and the pastoral care at college was better any issues were dealt with rather than being brushed under the carpet like school did .

We have quite a limited choice where I live, staying on at school or one big 6th form college that offers everything, so I am not very au fait with the options but intrigued about these colleges which don't offer subjects that people want - are these pretty niche subjects?

Presumably if your DD wants to be a research scientist she is doing at least some of bio / chem / phys / maths so is there a 6th form college near you that doesn't offer any of the standard science subjects? Or were you looking for specific exam boards or something like that?

DD is in school 6th Form. It was the right choice for her. She has been unwell for a couple of years, the teachers know and have been able to keep an eye on her. Pastoral care has been great and she has got stronger and more resilient over the first year.

She is very academic, initially wanting to study medicine and was given a lot of extra tutoring and assistance to help with applications etc. ultimately she decided against medicine, instead looking at research science, and again she has been given a lot of help.

She has a max of 10 in each of her a level classes, has 2 ‘free’ half days a week and two ‘personal study’ half days where she can either go in or work online (she chooses to go in).

She did look at 2 colleges. One didn’t offer her subjects at all. The other did, but her anxiety (bought on by her illness) was out of control just in the planning stages at the end of GCSEs. By staying local and with what she knew she could silence those voices. She was also able to join the 6th Form gym, continue with sports and take part in the school led volunteering at which got her out of her box more.

it was the right choice for her, based on her circumstances.

Both of my DC stayed on for 6th Form (single sex Grammar schools) because they were excellent academically. Plus the schools were close to home and most of their friends were staying on. It is, however, still school.

There is a great 6th Form college that some friends' DC went to. A big plus was that they were treated like students, not pupils. They also have some excellent results re Russell Group / Oxbridge. It was about a 45 minute bus ride away though.

I went on to 6th form at the grammar school I attended. Best years of my life!! Had the best time!
my eldest two children are studying at the same school now. My eldest is in sixth form now (about to start year 13). She chose sixth form because the school offered the courses she wanted to do and that are a stepping stone to her university course, the teachers are fab and she has a good relationship with them, and the school achieves the highest grades in the county.
But, what suits one does not suit another.
My son is about to start Year 11 and sit his GCSE’s and he is planning to leave and go to college. Primarily because the school he’s at doesn’t offer any courses he wants to do or that interest him. Knowing my children so well, I predicted this outcome years ago. They are both extremely intelligent and capable of achieving excellent results but my son won’t cope well with sixth form. He is much more suited to a college path.

I went to college as I couldn't wait to leave school, scraped enough grades to get on an A level secretarial course, started the course & hated it. I couldn't get the hang of shorthand, didn't like the A levels on offer then started skiving off, I managed to miss nearly a month before college phoned my mum who hit the roof. I limped on to the end of the year & was asked to leave. I went back to my school sixth form to do more O levels, typing & office practice, I did under 21 hours which meant I could still sign on for my dole money, managed to get a temp job & left.

No I categorically don’t.

We opted for 6th form - it was part of the same secondary but on a different site, different head and no uniform at all. Offered a wide range of subjects including BTECs and had a good reputation. Local college didn't offer the A levels my DDs wanted to do and other 6th forms had estate agent style uniform requirements so that was a hard no.

Don`t you think wanting to keep them in school is abit short sighted ?

I guess in grammar schools at that time it wasn't the done thing to do from what i understand from the experience of some of my family and relatives.

Going back a few years but I stayed at sixth form at school. My father taught in a sixth form college and strongly recommended against it owing to the poor standards of teaching and pupil behaviour he witnessed. I suppose that’s always coloured my option a bit. I did love sixth form though and felt very well prepared for uni at the end of it. I guess a lot boils down to how good the individual institutions are. My DH did go to college and loved to social side but regrets how poorly he did at the academic side. My personal preference would be for our DS to stay at school for sixth form but ultimately it will be up to him. If he needs more time to mature before uni then I’d rather he achieved it on his own time in a gap year than during the vital time he’s meant to be studying for his a-levels.

I stayed for 6th form (girls' grammar school in the 80s). Virtually nobody left at the end of Year 11. I didn't know a single person who went to college. It wouldn't have occurred to me to consider it at the time - I pretty much thought it was only for more vocational subjects, which I wasn't interested in.

My dd is in year 12. She wanted to go to college because she thought she'd prefer the atmosphere and informality, and because some of her friends were going go college. Unfortunately the local colleges didn't offer one of the subjects she wanted to do, so she has stayed at school for 6th form.

Can`t blame him for wanting a change

They sound like smart kids

My bright son went to 6th Form college rather than staying at his school fo 6th form. Both had very similar academic results. However my son had been at his school since he was four. It was relatively small and they were very much spoon fed academically.

I felt 6th form college was a better bridge between school and uni as they were treated more like adults and had to take more responsibility for their own learning. If you have a child who has to be pushed then they'll just crumble when they get to uni when there's no one behind them to make sure they attend lectures and do homework especially with the freedom uni brings in terms of a social life. Son was keen to spread his wings and I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Having said that covid put a bit of a kybosh on the social aspect of making new friends etc etc but otherwise all good.

I was keen for DC1 to stay on at school 6th form and they did. I thought the continuity would be good for them, teachers and strong friendships - and why waste hours of the day travelling elsewhere when we had a reasonably good school on our doorstep. It was a mistake; friendships changed and they had an unhappy couple of years and hated the school and everything it stood for by the end.
DC2, fed up with strict uniform policies and rules and regs, left to do A-levels at college. It's been a much better experience all round and has really prepared them well for independent learning at university.