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

I’m in London and all the schools I know of have sixth forms. Most stay at school or swap to another school. Those that leave at 16 tend to want to do a vocational course not available at school. Two of my DDs did A levels at school, though one swapped schools. Another DD left school to do a vocational course while also doing three A levels.

In my area of herts , you did a levels at school and college was for vocational courses like health and social care, and plumbing.
So I can see the stereotype for college = dumb and school = smart.
However my dh grew up in London and college was the only option. Within an hour of his house only private schools had sixth forms.
It must be regional.

I think when we were at school (a long time ago) this was the perception but I’d say that nowadays it’s nothing to do with intelligence but more to do with intentions post qualification and preferred learning and assessment style (disclaimer: this is a personal opinion and I have no evidence for it

No state schools with a 6th form near me. Post 16 education is at a private school (local) or colleges many, many miles away (and I'm not in a rural area).

The cleverest people go wherever best suits their needs.

I have 2 girls at uni. Both heading for top results. One went to college, the other to a grammar sixth form. Course availability was key.

I thought this. Didn't it get deleted too?

It's not about intelligence it's about the structural inequalities which impact attainment from before a child even starts school.

This absolutely has an impact.
A person's socioeconomic background will influence whether they choose A levels or a more vocational route.

However, as people have mentioned already, not everywhere has a 6th firm attached to their school. In an area close to me everyone goes to college but there are different types of college.

Most young people where I am stay at school until they are 18. Every school offers 6th form. I only know two people from my whole year in school who left and went to college and that's because they wanted to do a specific GNvq.

Round here, all the state secondaries have sixth forms and the colleges are mostly focussed on vocational courses (though they do offer some A levels). The sixth forms usually have higher entry requirements than the colleges. So there probably is some truth in what the OP said.

But there's also I think a split between those who like the "safety" of a known place with known rules versus the freedom of going to college where everything will be new to them (certainly that was a factor for my DC). And between those who want to study something more for the joy of studying it versus wanting something more vocational. Most 16 year olds don't know what career they want so sticking with school and known subjects is a better option for many until they get a clearer idea of what direction they plan to take.

You go to the place that offers your subject/s and where you feel you will learn best.

Most schools round here don’t have 6th forms. Ds’s school did but they offer an incredibly limited number of A levels, plus some Btecs & a Work Skills programme. They don’t offer music so Ds went to the local college.

Same for me.
My daughter is leaving school this year (predicted 8s and 9s across the board) and her school doesn’t have a 6th form. None of the schools in this town do. She could get a bus or train for an hour to a school in a different town but why would she do that when she can do her A levels at the 6th form college in our town?

That's how it was viewed when I was at school (early 2000)

My children’s school doesn’t have a sixth form so my son goes to sixth form college and is doing A levels.

The other college here offers alternative courses to A levels. It depends what you want to study. I know some of my sons friends got good enough grades to do A levels, but chose the other college as there were courses they liked that could lead to the career they wanted. There’s lots of choice for kids which is a good thing. A levels at sixth form aren’t for everyone.

I’m sure this got asked relatively recently on here.

You posted this a few weeks ago. Why the repeat?

Depending what subjects you study, In my area you can attend sixth form and college, in the same years.

I went from a sixth form college to a Cambridge college, anecdotal but there you go.

There were no 6th forms in a 100 mile radius of where I grew up - it just didn't exist. All colleges were known as a 6th form college to us, but they were just the local community colleges.

If I'd wanted to go to 6th form after GCSEs I would have had to rapidly learn fluent Welsh because that was the only 6th form within reasonable distance of my home. All of our local schools fed into the college for A levels and everything else.

Believing 6th form makes you superior is a sign that you lack critical thinking skills so are therefore less intelligent

I think it’s more a case of those who do well at GCSEs will likely do well at A Levels/sixth form. Those who don’t get on with GCSEs would likely be better off doing some kind of vocational course at college or on the job training like an apprenticeship. It’s not really about how clever you are but your preferred style of learning.

It's not about intelligence it's about the structural inequalities which impact attainment from before a child even starts school.

I think that it really depends on your definition of clever. I’m good at academic learning, I did Alevel at 6th Form college and went to university. But plenty of very clever people have talents that aren’t academic. My dh is very clever but dyslexic, although he also did go to 6th form his talent is in forming relationships and finding solutions and he’s a very good sales person, I am more qualified than him but definitely less talented and my skills are less marketable. Richard Branson dropped out of school at 14, Jamie Oliver went to catering college, would you class David Beckham as clever?

I personally think most average intelligence people could do A levels and university, but lots of people prefer more vocational courses.

That was the general opinion when I was at school too. But I'm a teacher (and have been for a long time) so I know full well that it's not true. There are all sorts of reasons for going to college which are not based on how intelligent you are. My dd is very bright and is hoping to apply to Oxbridge. She wanted to go to college because she was sick of her school. The local colleges didn't offer her subject combination though. Lots of her (bright) friends went to college because they had specific things they wanted to do which school didn't offer. Or they just fancied a different environment. They all had good enough grades to stay at school.

At kids school you have to meet a minimum standard for entry to sixth form, possibly 5 GCSEs and I think it’s a minimum of a grade 6 to do the A level of your choice, BTECs are also offered
I wouldn’t be sniffy about an access course at a college, ie access to a nursing degree, possibly like the foundation year?