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Original poster

Conditional offer for 6th form

39 replies

Stranger3 · 19/08/2023 13:59

Dd has a 6th form place at JAGS conditional in GCSE grades - i am sure all as standard, with 8s or above required for her chosen A level subjects and a certain number of 7s or above. She is not too confident about how she has done, particularly in a Science paper she wants to do for A level which is key for what she wants to do at university. With GCSE results fast approaching she is getting increasingly anxious about it all. I was just wondering if anyone has any idea how stringent schools tend to be if a grade is missed - even narrowly? I am sure it is all individual and depends, but this is something i find it very hard to get any insight on so if anyone has been through something similar or has any words of wisdom as to what to expect, that would be much appreciated. There is obviously no equivalent of Clearing for 6th form admissions so I am wondering what kind of a plan B is possible in this situation in the context of independent schools… Am hoping to hear that unless it is a huge multiple miss schools might be lenient but any information much appreciated. Thank you!!

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Seeline · 20/08/2023 11:35

The Indies we looked at didn't charge fees if grades weren't achieved though.
Some girls will also have state options.
My DD could stay at her existing school, but preferred one which had higher grade requirements. We also had a state 6th form as a third option. We gave provisional notice at her existing school, so weren't obliged to pay fees post GCSEs if she decided to go elsewhere (which she did).
There will be lots of movement post results.

On a different point, there are a few med courses which do not require chemistry.

tennissquare · 20/08/2023 11:18

@Stranger3 , have you looked at the 2019 grade boundaries for her chemistry gcse? I think she is overthinking this, I'm sure she will come out with a great grade.

zipittydoodar · 20/08/2023 11:14

I suspect she's overthinking it. She is obviously a bright girl and JAGs need to fill places- they and other selective girls schools all lose girls to other schools at 6th form. There probably will be some leeway especially if grades overall are lower, which I suspect they will be.

Original poster
Stranger3 · 20/08/2023 11:08

@catndogslife that’s a really key point. She is very very keen on this particular school - her sister is also going into JAGs into year 9 and they are keen to stay together. But also she is just really impressed with the support for uni applications and the general quality of education on offer.

BUT she is also really keen to do Medicine. JAGs is very good at supporting Medical applications and it is likely an alternative school would allow her to do Chemistry but would have less success with medical applications anyway,. (Though i know that it is not all down to the school of course but the work she puts in, the support from us etc).

I think at the moment she thinks that IF she was to get good enough grades to get in to JAGS but not do Chemistry A level she would still go to JAGS if there was a way to get the Chemistry A level some other way - i am not sure what the options are there -whether she could study for it in a gap year or online in parallel - dont know yet. But that is a major dilemma - should she instead go for a less academic school where she could do the A levels she wanted - assuming there is that option. This is why i was asking yesterday how she would get the missing A level if JAGs offered an alternative set of subjects. I understand there is an option of Foundation courses for medical degrees for people who may not have the right subjects for example.

there is a huge amount of ‘ifs’ here for course - i am just trying to think this through in terms of potential scenarios so i know how to best support her on the day and how to speak to the school. The dilemma of the school vs A level subject is the hardest bit.

@Seeline yes this makes sense. I dont know if they still have more people with offers than places at this point - it would seem that everyone is committed to a school at this late stage, with fees due? I expect, somehow, there is still movement post results so yes i cant imagine that would have trouble filling her place. And Chemistry is a popular subject. I agree too that the fact she is not one of their own doesnt help.

Sigh.

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Seeline · 20/08/2023 10:33

It will come down to whether they can fill all the places with girls who have the grades they require or not. If they have empty places then they may relax the entry requirements, but I doubt they'd relax the subject specific requirements. It's not like she is a current pupil, where they know what she is capable of outside the exam room. Selective indies want to keep their grades up.

catndogslife · 20/08/2023 10:28

I would say that with hindsight it depends on what your dd would like most. To attend a particular school or take a specific A level subject?
I have taught A level Chemistry and it's possible for students to do well at A level with grade 7s at GCSE.
When dd collected her GCSE results, the school already knew which pupils had not attained the entry grades needed for their chosen sixth form and had staff on hand to help these pupils with alternative options.

KingscoteStaff · 20/08/2023 09:25

The requirements for the girls already there is for 8+ in all their A level subjects, so that sounds like a hard rule.

Original poster
Stranger3 · 20/08/2023 09:11

@elkiedee thank you so much for this, that sounds great - I will have a look around. Haven’t looked at state schools which is our mistake - had lots of offers from selective private schools, took a long time deciding but in the end she wasn’t interested in schools with lower requirements and the JAGs conditions seemed very achievable at the time. @TeenDivided , I suppose a sort of plan B would be staying in her current school - they indicated they would most likely be able to accommodate her if she wanted to ‘come back’. She is just really not keen on that. Obviously another private school with lower requirements would have meant forfeiting not just a deposit but, at this stage, a term’s fees if we weren’t to take up the place.
I do agree with the high grade requirements being there to keep up the stats. The frustrating thing is that Chemistry is DD’s favourite and best subject by far so we have no doubts whatsoever she would cope with the A level - it’s just one of those things where she may have got too stressed out to do her best as she felt there was so much at stake.

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TeenDivided · 20/08/2023 05:48

I may be being naive here but surely the 'plan b' would have been to apply to other 6th forms with lower requirements?

Some schools have high requirements to keep their A level grades high, not just because any lower and you wouldn't cope.

elkiedee · 19/08/2023 20:54

There isn't an equivalent of clearing and I'm on the other side of London from you, but DS1 is looking to get into A level courses at a number of quite selective state sixth forms (some school and some college). He needs 8 for Further Maths, otherwise students need 7s for any specific subjects they want to study, and all or nearly all 7s or above for most subjects. One needs a 7.5 average for a 4 A level entry (which is most common there, and which includes DSs application), and one needs at least 7 7s for 4 A Levels which means that 6s and 7s need to be balanced by 8s and 9s.

Their results and destinations sound like they are suitable for a clever girl aiming to go to medical school, with a lot of support on hand for competitive applications, and presumably there are similar available in South and Central London. While all these say they have more applications than places, a lot of applicants are currently holding several offers (DS1 has 5, though I'm not sure any of them look like a plan B if things go wrong). I also have a memory of kids looking at new options and at an offer place where they'd missed requirements, and one got an offer from a school sixth form he hadn't applied to before his original offer decided to offer him a place with lower grades.

Original poster
Stranger3 · 19/08/2023 16:15

You are absolutely right. She agrees too.
Hadn’t taken a proper look at the Medicine threads until now. They look incredible in terms of info and detail. Thank you.

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tennissquare · 19/08/2023 15:23

I would just take a step back for now, medicine is such an incredibly tough journey (I'm sure you follow the Higher Education medics threads) and full of rejection so you need to start building up her resilience. I know changing school at this time can add to the anxiety so it may be this too. I'm sure her gcse grades will all be great and she can start her A levels full of confidence.

Original poster
Stranger3 · 19/08/2023 15:03

@tennissquare thank you so much for your reply. That makes sense. I was very much hoping to hear something like this. Extra complication is that (as i am sure is also very common) she HAS to have Chemistry (that was a great guess :)) for her dream Medicine degree. I wonder IF the school asked her to pick another subject there would be a way to still do Chemistry either as an additional subject at JAGs or some other way? Perhaps school could advise. I realise we just need to wait and see but she is driving herself mad and it is really contagious… :(. Thank you again,

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tennissquare · 19/08/2023 14:19

@Stranger3 , if say she got a 6 in chemistry they would probably ask her to change her A level choice but still take her. If she got a 7 in chemistry they would probably be open to a discussion. Currently the school will be expecting your dd to join in a couple of weeks so will do all they can to make sure she starts with A level choices that reflect her ability.

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