£50 non refundable deposit for 6th form - normal?

Tiffin girls are actually acting against their own admission rules for the sixth form

No they aren't. And I am by no means convinced the Schools Adjudicator would rule that they are illegally discriminating against students from other schools.

They must admit any pupil already at the school who achieves the grades required by the admission arrangements. That leaves them with far more applicants from other schools than there are places available - based on the published figures for recent years they have 7+ applicants for every place. If they simply required them to meet the grades in the admission arrangements they would be left with far too many successful applicants. As this school selects by ability they therefore need to make conditional offers requiring higher grades so that the number of successful applicants does not exceed the number of places available. In my view there would only be a problem if they failed to fill all the places available and some external applicants were turned away despite achieving the grades laid down in the admission arrangements.

It is possible the Adjudicator would require them to put up the grades required of internal applicants thereby freeing up more places for external applicants but I doubt it. I may be wrong. The Adjudicator does occasionally surprise me. But I suspect the only thing they would find wrong with these arrangements is placing pupils who are already at the school behind LAC in the admission criteria. If they achieve the required academic standard children who are already at the school must be admitted to the sixth form without going through the admissions process, and therefore come ahead of all external applicants.

As far as interviews are concerned, paragraph 1.9M is relevant for 6th form applications. It says that for sixth form entry a meeting may be held to discuss options and academic entry requirements for particular courses, but this meeting cannot form part of the decision making process on whether to offer a place. Up to you 5madthings as to whether you think they are deciding whether to admit after interview or not.
As far as entry to 6th form is concerned, when it is a continuation of study in the same school, then whilst they can meet to discuss there is an assumption that they will continue and have to be accepted as long as they meet the criteria. When it comes to moving schools, then there should be a published admission number for the number of pupils that are accepted from outside with an admission criteria. Frankly the admission number is ignored as the level of funding is higher and therefore they accept as many as they can squeeze in!

Tiffin girls are actually acting against their own admission rules for the sixth form by asking for those requirements. Their admission document for the sixth form 2015-2016, states requirements of 8 passes comprised of 4 A grades 2 B grades and presumably 2 C grades. Grade A GCSE is the minimum requirement for studying that subject at A Level !.

If they are discriminating against students from other schools, surely they are in line for getting in to a lot of trouble !.

I bet I can find ordinary 6th forms that only require CCCBB in all the places people say then need 6xA. It's the insistence on "must be first choice" part of OP that me.

OP, how would they ever know if it really was your first choice?

prh, that is interesting about the questions - must get DD to pay attention to what they ask!

Foomama, no surprises their A'level results are so good then!

In reality, Tiffin Girls asks 8A to be offered a place. My daughter's predicted grades were 7A 5A but did not have an offer. The school told us to contact Tiffin on the result if she has 8A*.
She stayed at her current school, not bothered.

can I ask what the rules,are re interviews for 6th for places

This is specifically covered in the Admissions Code. They can have a meeting to discuss options and entry requirements but the meeting cannot form part of the decision making process. If they ask the wrong sort of questions at the meeting this is something that can be brought up at appeal as evidence of a possible breach of the Code.

OP's might be. I can confirm mine does not fit that description (think we'd be in trouble with the governors if it did!).

Is the school in "Essex"? The one that requires 54 Points the equivalent of 6As and 2Bs, yet at A level only it Averages a B and is not in the top 30 Grammar schools !.

Our entry grades do vary. We do get students from the local 'sink' school and they go on to do very well. Didn't want to derail the thread just to point out that some schools do have entry requirements like that.

See I think these interviews are about selection... It's the wording of them.

Ds1 and I have already been.told he will get a place due to mock results/predicted grades and also because the school he currently try attends it part of the same academy chain... Think Rachel de souza.

Oh and.his current.school doesn't have a 6th form and.that seemingly bumps them.up the list as the local 6th forms have a policy of offering places to students who come from a school without a 6th form first iyswim?

5mad The 6th forms round here do interviews but they are only 15/20 minutes. DD1 has had 1 so far. They discussed what courses she wanted to do and why, and predicted grades and a few bits and bobs.
It definitely wasn't an academic selection interview (which I think aren't allowed?, just minimum criteria to do the courses). i.e. No 'speak to us in French' or 'tell us about nuclear power' questions.

Surely you apply to sixth form directly-there is no admission 'system' as such? They can't ask for money.

prhbridge can I ask what the rules,are re interviews for 6th for places? Ds1 had an interview on Fri, meaning he had to miss school to go to it. It's to go over his mock results, discuss which options he wants to take 'to make sure the 6th form is suitable for him' it's an hour long. This.is for an academy 6th form.

The.other two has applied for don't interview.

I don't think they are allowed to charge you without stating what it is for

They are not allowed to charge PERIOD. They cannot ask for money as part of the admissions process no matter what they want the money for.

How would you put them first? DD is applying and each school/sixthform is an individual application

Or maybe it is different outside of London?

So glad she decided not to apply for Camden (no chance of getting in anyway!)

Many sixth forms stipulate minimum grades to study certain (mostly the traditional ones) subjects - A's in the most popular schools round here.

It seems a bit harsh for a state school. I don't think they are allowed to charge you without stating what it is for, state school are not allowed to charge simply for making an application to the sixth form.

It's certainly not something we came across when applying for sixth form.

Does the requirement to put them first also break the code?

Missed that bit. Yes it does. It implies a "first preference first" system which is not allowed.

Blimey - even Tiffin only ask for 4 A grades! What grades are needed then drdonna - 8 A* grades?

Are there many children in your school who are on free school meals, DoctorDonna? What if your child's in the local sink school and has very little chance of getting into the grammar system or getting 6A/A* without tuition, which you can't afford?

Ours do at least 11. It is a super selective though. I know loads of people here disapprove of the grammar system but that's a different argument.
For a selective the grade offer seems fine, the rest seems a bit much to me.

How many GCSE's do state school children study? I did 7, I wasn't allowed to study any more. They are creaming off the best by the looks of it, which will guarantee that their A'Level results are all fabulous

Yes.

Drdonna - SIGNIFICANTLY higher than 6 As? Really?