Choosing a Sixth Form - all the rules I thought I knew are gone!

our evening was good; she has more choices than she thought she has, and is having to narrow down - there were 3 she originally thought she would like to do, but another 3 or so choices are now also real options.

they also seem to be quite flexible about GCSE achievements, for example she wants to do photography at A level but doesnt have GCSE art or photog (she cant draw so didnt do art, and photog wasnt an option for her at GCSE).

basically as long as she gets her C in English she can do the subjects she wants, but will prob have to resit maths GCSE for about 100 years to get a C!! (luckily no interest in maths necessary courses)

I find the applications process confusing though, we have to do it via the county website and it sounds a bit of a nightmare.

That's interesting gelo at least you got a heads up about how aspirational each environment was.

We had a slightly strange experience with DD2 when we went to the local boys school which has a mixed sixth form. We were in the Maths department talking to one of the teachers and DD2 asked a question about further maths. Instead of answering the teacher spent the whole time saying "well maths on its own is fine" and being very down on the idea of her taking further maths (without having any idea what her ability level was). It really put us off. She's in her second year studying maths at university now so a good job she ignored him!

dd was interviewed by 3 schools for sixth form, each had the same school report with predicted grades etc. in advance. At each interview she was asked what she wanted to do longer term.

At the first she said she was thinking about medicine (because she was), at which there was a much tooth sucking and a 'well you'll need to get at least 8 A*s' response in a sceptical tone. After this, at the second, she toned down the reply to 'maybe something like pharmacy or physiotherapy' to which the response was: 'with your grades you should try for medicine'. At the third, she reverted again to the medicine answer and was asked why that appealed to her?

I found the different responses from the schools very interesting. One was a comprehensive, one an independent, and one a super-selective grammar.

Interesting the first few open evenings round here.

One obv going for the higher level incomers (and targeting the parents in their talk) to boost the A level grades.

Another didn't seem too keen on the "incomers" at all, very much gearing the open evening towards existing Year 11s and choosing their options. Er where do we go? Any guides to take us around? No? Well we'll just traipse around vaguely then shall we?

DS2 swapped for sixth form from a boys' selective fee-paying school to a comp. He started in September and t's been an amazing move for him. We allowed him to choose. I think that's really important.

1500 per year . I thought dd's 6th form was huge with a quarter that intake!

There are pros & cons to moving. It does give a feeling of progression and to go to a 6th form college is like a step towards university. You do have to get to know new teachers & friends which can be positive & negative - it gives you a wider view of the world, but if you are trying to keep up with old friends too it can make social life very hectic.

No.
decent GCSEs and you join the 1500 per year intake !
They even relaxed the rules a bit due to the Eng Lit exam fiasco.

Barton Peverill and Brockenhurst are both good enough that all three are on their toes
and of course Sparsholt for those heading into farming and outdoors

That sounds like a great range of options, Talk. The one in Winchester is Peter Symonds, isn't it? Is it hard to get into?

when we go through the process DD will have several choices
the one in Winchester (top top choice) (12 miles)
the one a bit nearer (8 miles)
the one in town (4 miles)
the one in the forest (20 miles)
buses to each go from near here

Boschy - sounds like your options are even more limited than ours! And here I was getting jealous of those with loads of places to choose from.

TOSN - I agree re the IB. No point in doing it you don't like some of the subjects you are going to have to do. The 'easy' Maths and Science aren't going to impress as much as an A-level in a subject you like and will do well in.

gosh I envy those of you with a choice! We have: DD1's current school, open evening tonight. I would like her to stay there, and she is also quite keen. which is lucky, because option 2 is a dump school in the other direction, and option 3, the FE college, is closing.

So I am just hoping that she will get a place where she is, because otherwise we wont know what to do (and she is more a C-D student than an A* one).

DD has now got her heart firmly set on the IB which means going to the college with the 90-min commute and (I found out yesterday), the travel card for the year is £500.
We are going to an open evening at the local college tonight. I need to quiz them hard about their results - the prospectus was a masterpiece of disinformation (100% of students 'pass' their A-levels - yes but at what grades?). Belonging is an interesting concept - DD is not feeling it from anywhere in particular right now, even the IB place. They all want her - bums on seats a huge issue around here.

Having a difficult time of it here too.
Open days only started last week, been to 2 so far, both of which DDl loved. One a difficult journey, the other less likely to get an offer from.
It seems though that "minimum requirements" are what must be acheived to be allowed to take chosen subjects. And are on rhe basis of what internal applicants must be predicted. The difficult bit is getting predicted grades high enough to get the offer in the first place.
For DDs first choice, although minimum is just 5 A to C incl. E&M with A/ B in chosen subjects, as there are do many applicants those that typically get the offers are predicted 8 A.

DDs school does have an average sixth form, but subject blocks don't work for her. Shes pretty much set on her subjects now, so its looking like her choice will be a difficult journey with high travel costs or a lesser school than her own.

With regards to holding onto places, we have been told by current school to hold onto ad many options ad possible until results day. So we expect to be able to do this unless any (compulsory) induction days clash.

MsAverage - re your comment on "BELONGS". I'm sure what you say is true to some extent. But some schools also favour sport and//or musical children, and may even prefer A/B"s with loads of other stuff to offer than straight A*s but little else to offer.

A very competitive school we are seeing next week have no mention of grades on their website, but say they want the students that can offer most to the school. I can feel some interesting questions coming on there.

Our below-national-average school does not have a sixth forms, and we have been shopping around for a couple of months. It feels like we are visiting poker players - no slightest indications what they got, and what we can rely on.

A couple of schools were quite frank - "We will start talking from 6 A*s in GCSEs". Oh, well, good, thank you, we will not waste each others' time. The others are strange. "If a girls BELONGS to the school, she will get a place, regardless the grades" - many of the school repeat this mantra as if it has some hidden, although a very concrete meaning. I struggled to decipher that code, until it just dawned on me. Unbelievable that I was so stupid. "If you are from upper-middle class, we would be glad to accept your under-performing child". What else could it mean, if not this?

TheWave I think DD's friends had to get predicted grades from their teachers, not sure about references - varied from school to school. (Ordinary schools here not grammars)

For schools here places were not fully confirmed until after GCSE results because obviously grades have to be met

Thanks Grunge I assume you can hold more than one as well up until the GSCE results presumably, it feels weird though and must be for the schools as well.

Do many schools ask for references from current schools? or is that just grammars and private schools?

nothing worse than wibbly guts!

I THINK you can hold more than one offer .... where pupils said they were going at end of Y11 and where they actually went in Y12 weren't exactly the same. Plus one I know who changed in first week of Y12 when realised dream 6th form not what she expected

Our sec schools are grouped into consortia too - you're based at one school (and may do all your subjects there) but if there are specialities (eg Music A level) or unusual subject combinations then you have the option of doing a subject in another member of the consortia.

It's just like primary and secondary admissions all over again except that it's on grades not location. So now you can relive the joys of parental angst of which is the 'best' sixth form and get wound up in knots over it. DD's school has suddenly become regarded as 'no longer the best' (why not is beyond me) and there was a mass exodus after Y11. DD didn't even want to look at other 6th forms because although most of her friends left she isn't that confident and needs the security of knowing the staff and school for a bit longer.

I think you've got to go with gut feeling and your DDs - the choice is more theirs now. i wouldn't worry about Oxbridge admission numbers but Id ask questions about university application and support if your school's sixth form is new.