Why are comprehensive schools allowed to have selective Sixth Forms?

If she wants to do English lit A level, then surely the grade for language does not matter, it's the lit result that will fulfil the admission criteria.

munslife I've not come across any schools having that criteria for mocks. Very harsh.

tiggytape I probably worded that badly.
Doing rounds last year, minimum requirements were the same for all.
BUT where there was fierce competition for places, only the external students with the highest predictions would get an offer. Whereas an internal student with minimum requirement predictions would always have a conditional place. Of course, if the external student subsequently missed the predictions, they would still keep the place provided they hit minimum requirements.

I always thought that most comps had slightly lower entry requirements in the 6th form for internal vs external students. Is there any leeway given when they know the student well and can assess whether they would be capable of the subject at A level?

DD1 currently in yr12 and struggling with 2 of her 4 subjects, all of which she had A*/A in at GCSE. It's really made me think that there could possibly be some better way of assessing whether a student is capable - perhaps entrance tests in the subjects. DDs problem seems to be mainly with the independent learning, its such a huge step up.
At least one of her teachers at parents evening said that it is not always the lower grade students that are scoring the worst at the start - there are some B grade students in her French class scoring better than some A* students. Attitude and maturity is playing a big part too.

One thing to be aware of OP if your DD doesnt need high grades. Check the prospectus of any school she applies for to see what th minimum is to be allowed to continue - many want 3D or even 3C at AS to be allowed to continue I to yr13. Far better to make the move at start of yr12 than have to do yr12 twice.

The thing is, if your dd has achieved a B at the start of Y10, then she clearly would have achieved A or A* at the end of Y11. The school have ballsed up by entering her too early. Knowing the school, I agree, for them it is about becoming the school every middle/upper class parent wants to send their child too - rather like the boys school down the road - and sod everyone else they should be educating. Their ethos stinks. I know your daughter wants to stay put but seriously there are some really nice schools on your side of town that would be chomping at the bit to take her.

We'll take pretty much anyone into the 6th form, but the different courses have different entry requirements. We offer a wide range of level 2 and level 3 courses, academic and vocational. Good guidance at the point of entry to 6th form is so important. Otherwise students are set up for failure.

OP, I have been told more than once that an A at GCSE is equivalent to A D at A level. A levels are much much harder and not for the naturally academic child. Many A levels have less coursework and more focus on exam results so again if the child is good at coursework but not so good at exams then some traditional A level subjects may not be for them.

StarballBunny, Im not sure anyone has said they were required to have A grades in subjects they weren't going to continue, in order to do vocational courses. Isn't the OPs daughter required to have an A in English because she wants to do English alongside her art course?
The only time when schools ask for an A in a subject not being taken at A level, is when it is a new subject at A level. so for example, many schools offer Economics or Politics at A level but not before. They cannot ask for an A in GCSE Economics or Politics, so they choose a subject that has similar skills and require it in that instead as a way to judge suitability. In Politics, it would be usual to ask for an A in a humanity or English.

You are right that it is impossible to know who will be the best professional in the end. Schools and universities also can't know who will perform best on their courses. GCSE exam grades are the best predictors of success at A level however, so in a world with imperfect information, that is what is used. It is a blunt instrument and it is good to hear that some employers and universities take other things into account too.

When I was at school, the requirement to proceed to A level was also C, although people with Cs usually got the Es and Us (although back then you could get into Uni with Ds and Es). Things have changed, with the increased levels of competition, GCSEs excluding elements of the syllabus which were previously in etc etc. many people think the jump up to A level is getting bigger (and will do so even more with less coursework) and that is why better GCSEs are needed now than in the past. Some places still ask for Bs, others for As. The trend is probably towards asking for higher grades, as you have seen. But then more people get As now than in the past, so it isn't really excluding those who previously would have been acceptable.
Best of luck to your daughter.

I totally agree OP that DCs who need three reasonable A levels for vocational talent based courses likeAart, Drama and Music should not be expected to have As or even Bs in their non specialist subjects.

They never used to have to. It's the dreaded league table nonsense again.

If 6th forms publish their results and destinations in full, any parent/prospective student with half a brain cell will be see a range of grades indicating a well rounded intake.

I'd only worry if certain depts. got very few good grades.

And following on, just out of interest, how do you think schools should decide who can and cannot take an A level in a certain subject? Would you ignore GCSE results and allow anyone to do it? Would you set the standard at a B or a C (and why at that level?). Just wondered, because it seems to me obvious that clear criteria are needed, but perhaps you don't agree.

Yes there are many routes into some careers. Yes there are graduates stacking shelves. And I'm glad that this issue isn't going to hold your daughter back because she wants to do fine art.
I was addressing the title of your original post about schools setting criteria for A level entry. Lots of people have pointed out on this thread that A levels are an academic option which were never aimed to be suitable for everyone. Not sure if you have ever said that you accept that.
The issue of retaking an exam taken early aside, do you disagree with the statistical evidence that it some subjects (maths particularly) starting A level with less than an A is likely to lead to very poor performance at A level. Would you still want your child to start such a course, which will be examined, not assessed by coursework?
And following on from this, will you then be arguing with universities that your child should be allowed in with a different offer to everyone else, or with employers that they should interview her despite her results being below their threshold. I'm sure you wouldn't, but this kind of thing is a natural extension of your argument.