Changing Schools at Sixth Form Pros and Cons?

"He's quite a shy guy, so it's quite a big thing for him to even suggest doing something which will take him outside of his comfort zone. Which is one of the reasons I'm broadly in favour. Perhpas he feels the time has come to challenge himself?"

That would be an important reason for supporting his choice to move, imo. Assuming he hasn't got his heart set on one particular highly specific and competitive university course, acquiring a good level of social and intellectual confidence is likely to be of longer-lasting benefit to him both at university and beyond than a few UCAS points.

But it does depend on what he wants to study - if he's hellbent on Oxbridge, or becoming a barrister/city solicitor, going to LSE or Imperial, or reading English at Warwick or whatever, then he needs to follow whichever path is likely to maximise his A-level grades. If he's an all-round above-average bright boy who will get good but not genius-standard A-levels, get into a good university but is not likely to be a future CAmbridge First (this is my ds too, btw) then I'd be encouraging him to branch out if that's what he felt was best for him.

To put it another way: there is a big learning curve between a small, protected private school and university, and an even bigger one between said small school and the big wide world. If he is a slightly shy, tentative boy then he will have to climb that curve at some point. There are arguments for doing that at 6th form, and counter-arguments for waiting till university. But if he wants to move, and there are no particular deal-breaking reasons not to, then I think I'd be cautiously supportive.

I moved halfway through sixth form and started again (from year 12) at a new school. I chose the new one because I was desperately (and I mean it, rather than just upset) unhappy at my old school. It was the best decision I have ever made, education-wise. The ethos of the new school was much more supportive and my marks didn't suffer at all, in fact they improved.

DSis chose to move from the old school when she finished her GCSEs to mine as I was so happy there. However, the Maths teaching (her subject) wasn't as good as the old school. New school offered a better range of subjects and other teaching was excellent but she ended up having coaching from the Maths teacher at the old school - I would check that something similar isn't waiting for your DS: what is the quality of the Maths teaching like?

The other big shock was extended travelling - we went from a five minute car trip to over an hour, most of it on the bus. Difficult in winter mornings!

Other things to compare are perhaps the extra-curricular opportunities (ours had an Oxbridge week, loads of volunteering opportunities and every Weds PM off for sport in sixth form). Also whether the library/resources are as good - you use them a lot more at A level.

Re: being shy. One of the reasons I moved was that I hated the person I had become after being in the same group of people for ten years - at the new school I totally reinvented myself and became more 'me'. Your DS can be whoever he wants at the new school and he may find that quite freeing. Being able to meet everyone for the first time with no preconceptions was another fantastic aspect - something DSis didn't get the benefit of as she came after me.

almost all kids in hampshire move for 6th form!

I did this in September.
The first week scared me a lot; I only knew one person in the entire school. After the first week, I managed to make new friends, whom I now feel like I've known for years.

So essentially, the cons were the problem of feeling lonely on the first few days, having to get used to new teachers, etc.
But I think this change has prepared me more for the change to uni (I went to one primary school and one secondary school all my life and was very used to the stability) and the new school has more opportunities.

Given the standard of state school and sixth form provision in St Albans, his success in qualifying to enter LSE is almost certainly going to be determined by the reasons he has for moving, not by the quality of teaching! The reasons given are not great, but if he feels his current school is not really exciting him intellectually and he can convince you he isn't wanting to move because he thinks he'll have an easier ride, he'll be ok. I wouldn't usually recommend moving without good reason though. It's a short enough course as it is. He might just be bored in year 11 and all schools give more freedom and privileges in sixth form.

Destinations for a comp (even a good one) and a selective independent school are always going to look different.

What you need to know is whether there are a reasonable number going to established/Russell Gp universities to study serious academic subjects (assuming that's the path your ds wants to go down). Re the likely grades, that does depend mainly on him - as with the destinations, as long as there are some kids getting top grades there are no reasons to assume he won't be one of them. But if he is used to being spoon-fed or having a lot of support/encouragement/boundaries, he may find the change quite a steep learning curve, and two years is really quite a short time to accommodate that, iyswim.

I would put your reservations to him, because he does need to decide what his priorities are before you/he can decide whether the potential benefits of the new school are likely to outweigh the benefits of staying somewhere familiar where you are known and supported.

Why wouldn't he get such good grades? All those girl??? Dd is thinking of moving from her mostly girl's school to a mostly boy's school for 6th form- I suspect her motives!

(state, by the way, and she's aiming for Oxford)

I would examine closely which Uni's both school have sent pupils to over say last 5 years. Comp may get good results but do they get kids into top Uni's?

There always seems to be a lot of movement at sixth form here.

I think it depends what your DC is trying to achieve by mving.

It can work well but you have to realise that they will never be HeadBoy/Girl or Captain of Sport etc. If they were never going to be that anyway then it doesn't matter much!

OTOH, if they swan in and land the Lead Part in the drama then that can cause resentment with existing pupils.

Be careful of thinking "the school is good at X, DC is good at X so they ought to thrive there". You might find that your DC is best in X at your current school but doesn't even make first team / top set in the target school.

Does the target school have a lot of newbies at sixth form or will your DC be one of a few trying to make inroads into extablished friendship groups.

Dd1 didn't, in the end, but ummed and ahhed about it all year.

I think it depends on how happy you/she are with the current school, both academically and socially, and what options are availble to her at 6th form level.

I reckon it may be worth doing if:
she's fed up wtih current school
isn't totally happy with her peer group
wants to do subject combinations that aren't on offer at current school
new 6th form is likely to have a strong USP over and above current school.

Not worth doing just because she feels like she migth like a change, imo. The 2 years of 6th form is quite short, even more so now they start doing AS modules in the Jan of 2nd term - that's really not a very long time to settle down before things get serious. If there are niggles with current school think carefully about how much those are down to the school rather than to the individual - it would be silly to move and then find all the same problems recurring in the new environment.

Also, depending on what the options are, if she's thinking of changing to somewhere more liberal and college-y, consider carefully how well she is likely to respond to the lower level of supervision. Could be great for a motivated but slightly stroppy teen, but disastrous for someone who needs a more structured combination of handholding and kicks up the backside.

Did it back in the mists of time. Went from large not very good comp to private boys school which took girls at 6th form only. Bit of a culture shock but made good friends & seriously good move for learning. Girls from girls only schools found it much more difficult. Did lose touch though with some local friends but may have happened anyway as some went to work not 6th form.