Anyone heard from Tiffin Boys Sixth Form - interviews?

Tiffin Boys only have one priority area covering anyone within 10km from the school. There's no point in applying if you live outside of that, because there is a lot of oversubscription within the priority area.

@DblEspresso didn't say whether the child she mentioned lives within 10km, but my reply assumed they do.

@dredded Depends on this year's admission criteria at Tiffin Boys. At Tiffin Girls for instance the Inner Catchment has different requirements than Designated Area. It may have changed also at Tiffin Boys

Anyone with those sorts of grades would be very likely to win an appeal, because their firm grades are almost certainly higher than some who got an offer on their predicted grades. The Twyford School adjudication in July 2022 made it clear that use of predicted grades is not objective, so a strong case could be made on grounds of an unlawful admissions policy.

Clause 2.32 of the admissions code says schools should include info about how to appeal when a place is refused, but Tiffin don't, so it's worth emailing them to ask for it.

I know a child in my child's school who has 10 x 9s but still hasn't received a confirmation. He did apply for high demand subjects of Physics, Chem and Maths though, which are popular among existing Tiffin boys. So I guess choosing some humanities subjects and being a girl helps with your chances. I also think a child who can get such high scores in existing school, won't have any special benefit from going to Tiffins for A levels. It's not same as 11plus entry for secondary.

I should also say that she had a friend who did get in with the same points to do History, English & another one of the arts.
They did say they are already made a number of offers.

My daughter received an email this morning stating that due to numbers and as she did not have 9s ( I am assuming ) even though she has 68 point ,(but not the 72 of straight 9s)GCSE results it would not be possible to accomodate her. She chose Maths Economics & Geography. Perhaps if you have not heard this means that you still have the possibility of a place.

Good Luck- I hope so ,it is pretty deflating that it was a rejection.

Just found this thread and read through. My DD was lucky enough to get a place but - and this supports arguments made upthread - she is NOT doing a single STEM subject. She has chosen History, French and Politics. Eleven grade nines predicted. I hope those wait-listed get lucky on results day

Thanks for the feedback @Trinityb. So many on the waitlist, I guess we will wait and see come August results and then decide what to do.... not clear on how they are evaluating the applications in terms of offers made... at least my DS is pretty settled where he is currently, so not sure now what to do... will cross that bridge once we get to it!

Good luck for all of you on here whose kids have exams now. My DS has first full written one today!

This isn't in the admissions policy, but doesn't need to be because your child's place isn't dependent on it, only the number of subjects she studies. If she gets less than 8.5 then she won't have her offer withdrawn (but she may decide to go elsewhere if she has her heart set on 4 A levels rather than 3 ).

Yes, they are guaranteed. It was discussed up-thread. It is very good for people who have offers, but it is only possible due to a breach of the admissions code through use of subjective predicted grades.

700 on the waiting list!! Good grief. Anybody know how many/few people generally get in via this? Seems near impossible then

Where we live, all offers are conditional. Firstly on getting the grades, but secondly on their oversubscription criteria. (Distance for non selective schools and APS for the grammars). This is because the schools over offer and they aren’t sure who will want a place on offer day.

To be honest, it’s not even guaranteed in non selective sixth forms. In our own local school, where we have also applied for sixth form, their offer is based on grades but also distance (the nearer you are the earlier your interview) and space on the chosen courses.

It did make me wonder why you would put 4 A levels, at this point, unless you really want to do Further Maths, which can only be done as a 4th A level. I would certainly be calling them if the grades were missed was over the choice of doing 4 rather than 3 and the higher grade expectations.

And a 9 in maths to do further marhs. My daughter wasn’t planning to do either, but that was what they said. They seemed open to you changing your mind or deciding nearer the time. Sone try it for a few weeks and drop one.

They told us when we went in that it was a requirement to have 8.5 average to take 4 A levels

I’m not in the area, but my son has been applying to selective sixth forms near us this year. Are these ‘offers’ guaranteed places if the dc achieves the entry requirements? We found with my eldest a few years ago that the whole process is not so transparent, and there were oversubscription criteria that come into play on results day, as they obviously offer to more than they have places for. And I think the oversubscription criteria is to do with higher grades /average point scores..

That shouldn't be too much of a surprise, because it's in the admissions criteria - clause 15.2:
https://tiffinschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Admissions-Policy-2023.pdf

Our letter also had a surprisingly low requirement for English Lang and Maths at 5!

The 8.5 average is only if you request to do 4 A levels, otherwise for three it’s 56 points min entry requirement across 8 best GCSEs as per admissions doc. Grade 7 in all chosen A levels, but 9 for Maths to do further Maths. That’s what they confirmed when I attended 2 weeks ago for a meeting and in their follow up letter.

We live around 3 or max 4 miles away, so further than you.

Today wasn't really an interview as such, as soon as we were all there they said that everyone had an offer, subject to meeting the grades. You must have a 9 in Math to be able to do Further Math, minimum 7 for a chosen A level subject, and an average of 8.5 across your top eight subjects.

They said that they had made c120 offers, and 700 were on the waitlist!

On GCSE results day, we must email/call to formally accept the offer, otherwise they will offer places to those on the waitlist.

I'm sorry that you haven't received an offer so far :(

Congrats @Trinityb! That's great news for your DS!
Out of interest, are you very close to the school? I am curious to see how much distance feeds into their decisions, as well as their analysis of mock and predicted grades etc.

We live exactly 1 mile away, walking distance, according to google maps and my DS applied to do all STEM subjects (Maths and Sciences) for A levels.

He got 10 x level 9's in his mocks and 1 x level 8 (not in a STEM subject) and is predicted to get the same in his actual GCSEs, with an aspirational 11 x level 9's!

Just trying to get a feel for if it's distance, as much as subject choice, that has had an impact on offers made.

My son has been asked to go in for an interview tomorrow. He has selected STEM subjects, and received 9's in these for his Mocks and his predicted are 9's in eight subjects and 8's in three subjects.

After the long waiting game I'm feeling quite lucky, and surprised.