Is it true that clever people go to 6th form and people who aren't go to college

Not where I grew up as I can't actually remember any of the schools having a sixth form. Everyone went to college although some colleges were known for being more academic than others.

Where we live now yes absolutely. The only girls who don't stay in at my daughters girls grammar tend to be ones who want to do sport (not offered) or ones who didn't get the grades to stay (minimum of 6 grade 6)

Not correct. At my son's college they offer a full range of academic A levels plus an honours programme for those with high grade GCSE's looking towards Oxbridge/RG/medical AND a range of vocational courses such as Btecs at Levels 2 & 2 in performing arts, construction, healthcare, floristry, hairdressing etc etc.

There is a separate 6th form college that offers A levels and Btecs too but the Btecs are the smaller 1/2 A level equivalent ones. They don't do the plumbing/hairdressing type ones.

Yes I know but OP just said “college” , not which types.
Some colleges are vocational and some are academic so “clever” people DO go to college

@Hoppinggreen they would be 6th form colleges so sane as a sixth form at school.

Not all colleges, some just offer A levels like a school would

My DCs school doesn’t have a 6th form so they have no choice but to go to college for A levels, so no, it’s not true

DS school doesn't have a sixth form. He will be going to a sixth form college. In our local authority (Bath and North East Somerset) some schools have 6th forms, some don't. He will be travelling into another local authority area (City of Bristol) to attend partially on the basis that it's geographically closer to us than any in BANES.

I didn’t have the opportunity for either 6th form or college- mid 80’s and I needed to get a job rather than stay in education. But I recently worked with a highly intelligent young woman who is studying law. She went to a grammar school but didn’t like like so chose the local college over 6th form at the grammar school, hardly ever turned for lessons, got very good A-level results and chose a local Uni over the Russel Group Uni that offered her a place.

The thing is though at 6th form you can`t train to be a hairdresser, plumber or chef.
*At college you can

Then it's about choosing an option that best aligns with your career aspirations rather than intelligence.

The fact that our local 6th form college offers any combination of subjects is a big draw rather than at ds’s school 6th form where there are limited option columns.

My child's 6th form requires decent grades to get in but they never wanted to stay on and can't wait to go to college whatever their grades.

Lots of people seem to be muddling their own experiences, or their local offer, with the national picture. Of course, loads of clever individuals go to colleges and in some areas, due to the way provision for 16-19 education is structured, most kids go to college. But this is not the case across the country.

Perhaps another way to look at it would be to look at universities. Those at uni could be a good substitute for ‘clever’ (and we are having to take a measurable method for ‘clever’ so that means GCSEs, A Levels, Uni places, Degree results….of course there are lots of people who don’t have these who are clever, but we need a measurable method) If you look at universities and especially the more selective ones, you will find a larger proportion of students come from 6th forms in schools. Again, lots are from colleges, but schools take more of the places.

Look at the Oxbridge websites which show admissions data and you can see where students originate from. It’s widely known that a small group of independent schools send more students to Oxbridge, than a large number of other institutions added together. These include both schools and colleges. Amonsgt RG unis, independent, state Grammar and leafy Comps are over -represented….which is hardly surprising when you think about it. Some 6th Form colleges are highly selective and also extremely successful in achieving top grades and send large numbers to RG unis. However, schools send more.

The fact MN posters attended college or their kids did or their friend in the next town did while being really clever, doesn’t alter the national reality.

It might not be true in individual local areas. Each area has different balances if school to college places for 6th Form study. Taken nationally though, the average GCSE per subject result will be higher in schools than colleges.

It’s not an insult to colleges or an insult to vocational courses. It’s a function if lots of historic and sociologist-economic factors which feed into determining which schools kids go to at 11, local provision for 11-18 education, outcomes at 16 and choices made/options available to different students at that point.

Not true anymore.

where I live we have the only two grammar schools for miles around. Both have sixth forms. The cleverest of those go on to the sixth form college (listed 10th in rankings last year) in the next town as it’s so good. Those grammar school sixth form places are filled by comprehensive kids that didn’t make the grade at 11 but who parents want them to have xxx grammar school on their UCAS application.

It was a common trope trotted out when I was at school.

in all honesty very few people at that age know exactly what they want to do.

the main difference I have seen is that in 6th forms they are usually more selective and as such can be harder to get into and the schools often push the students more, flip side of that is some schools if they feel you won’t hit certain grades will pressure students to drop out /go to college in order to not hit their rankings.

coleges on the other hand is a lot more about independent learning, and as such is a very good transition between school and uni.

however for those who do need a bit of a push every now and again they can just fall through the gaps.

neither way is better and it really depends on the mentality of the student as to which would suit them better, and the attitudes of the school or college to how they manage their students

I choose sixth form as I needed grades and I did not make the grades needed for college.

good lord no.... I was smart and challenged boundaries and pushed and was kindly asked not to return to 6th form -went to college instead... I pushed uniform rules, tried to discuss recent politics, understood that teachers dont always know more than me....

At my DS's school you had to have certain grades and numbers of GCSEs eg five Cs or above, (or whatever today's equivalent is) before you could get in to the sixth form. And if you didn't perform you could be kicked out at the end of the first term, or at the end of the first year.
But where I now live there are two very highly respected sixth form colleges, thry are very selective in their entrance requirements, they then kick out the kids who don't work, and as a result get large numbers of the remainder into Oxbridge.
So they're not all for the less bright children.

Both mine went to college, 1 did A levels and went to uni got a 1st class honours. My other daughter got no exam's at school so went to college to gain other qualifications, to help her get a job.

My DD is about to start at a secondary that is 11-16. After which, she'll probably go to the College next door where she could study the highly academic a levels like Maths, Languages, or Sciences, more 'arty' a levels like music or art, t-levels, apprenticeships, sports coaching, functional skills... it offers a wide range (and can do that as it takes around 1000 children into each year group). The school separated out 5 years ago to enable greater breadth for the sixth formers.

DS1 and DS2's school doesn't have 6th form. It's quite rural and has a large catchment area. Many go to the colleges on the coast that offer A-levels and other more vocational, arty or technical courses. Some go further inland and to 6th forms at other schools (DD's school has 6th form). Public transport isn't great here which is a factor for many people.

DS1 thought he wanted to go to college for his A-levels (wants to do PPE at uni) but having considered it opted for 6th form as he's struggled a bit with MH the last few years (starting before covid) and thought the pastoral support and smaller setting of 6th form was better for him. He also isn't great at self motivation for studying and would be more likely to use free periods at 6th form to study, while at college would likely head into town with friends instead.
DS2 is currently favouring option 3, an agricultural college an hour away (have their own transport with a route through our village) for a more vocational level 3 course. He's academic enough for A-levels (and possibly more intelligent than DS1) but would rather do something practical that aims for a job as he isn't interested in university at the moment, he wants to get out and earn money!

I was told the same. More vocational studies at college and A levels at school.

All depends on the area. Some areas only have colleges. Around here all the schools go up to 18 and have higher entry requirements than the college which offers more vocational courses alongside A levels. Students can choose to go anywhere they qualify for, but the 6th form school places are more competitive than college places. The college would be happy to welcome a student with all 9s, but also you can get in with much lower grades and they offer resits. Some of the schools require averages of 6s or 7s to study there.

I can think of bad school 6th forms and excellent colleges with strong academic reputations around here. And vice versa.