Are more of you planning to move your DC from private to state for 6th form now?

Only true until 16. A'level students do not get help with travel regardless of the distance.

Then the council provides transport. No child is debarred from state school because of transport. There are children in the UK who can only go to school when the tide is out, there are children in the UK who can only go to school when the tide is in! the council provides transport.

Incidentally, I also know what happens to students who lie on their form, as has been suggested upthread.

I have had to give statements to courts, as have other colleagues, either remotely or in person. Exclusion from UCAS and a fraud conviction.

As it happens, the students I personally have been questioned about were telling the truth, and my evidence proved their innocence, and yes, where that child studied for secondary school is something I have given evidence under oath about.

A colleague of mine was actually summoned for cross examination about that exact question once, and the child he was giving evidence about was also telling the truth on their form, and was found innocent of fraud and was allowed to continue with his course (he was already in the second year when the details on his original application were checked, because of other information that had come to light)

Same

Why are blind CVs “the dark ages”?

It sounds utterly fair.

Because after several decades of supervising students applying to university, I am explaining to you that you have not read the full policy.

MORE THAN HALF OF THE SCHOOLS I HAVE TAUGHT AT ARE ON THAT LIST

If you go to one of those schools, you are eligible to be considered for a contextual offer from Bristol. But for GCSE, not A level. And not on its own.

I have supervised hundreds of students from that list apply to university, I know which students will get contextual offers from where.

As an employer, I'm simply pleased to find candidates with decent grades in the relevant degree, who are interested in working full time and can write a good CV.

The senior school they attended wouldn't even register.

Perhaps in a city desperately short of acceptable student accommodation, AAA students who can live at home and won't need digs, is the appeal.

Exeter don’t have a list of schools but they do have an extremely generous contextual calculator on their website. I know quite a few from very priveleged backgrounds that qualify.

I think we all know Law is different and stuck in the dark ages.

Aren’t cvs very blind now anyway ? They are at Dh law firm anyway. Good to avoid the mortification I had at my City law firm interview when the partner said he went to school in my home city but didn’t recognise the name of my school. His school was the top local private mine was a comp. Utter cringe. Got the job tough.

If they haven't cottoned on by now they probably won't, as its been happening for years.

And I'm not sure it's parents scamming the system - more like Bristol itself (not sure why someone mentioned Exeter, they don't have a similar list AFAIK.)

That's really disappointing, I thought this was a genuine offer for people from lower performing schools. That's how it plays out where I live, but clearly not in other areas.
Kids from my DC school could still get into Bristol with a contextual if they lived in a less desirable postcode. The school itself is in this postcode, but has a large and somewhat desirable catchment.
I don't really see what it in it for Bristol though. Is it to look like they are doing a decent thing? Or to draw people in from certain schools? I'm fairly sure they could fill their AAA courses without needing to offer a lower grade, so why do it?

Surely eventually employers will cotton onto this when they see cvs. As a recruiter if I saw Peter Symonds or a top private school for GCSEs followed by low A level grades and a Bristol or Exeter uni degree, I’d definitely make a judgement.

Not sure Bristol and Exeter are doing themselves any favours by having a contextual offering that plays into the hands of the priveleged scamming the system, it’ll make their degrees worth less in the marketplace.

You might wonder why Peter Symonds makes the 2024 Bristol list, given the number of students that have Oxbridge offers:

The number of Peter Symonds students who are offered places to study at Oxford or Cambridge is comparable to leading private and selective schools. The College regularly features as one of the country’s top five feeder institutes to Oxbridge.

https://psc.ac.uk/news-item/sfc/90

Or BHVICS:

53 students BHASVIC students have been made an offer to study at Oxford and Cambridge next year. 187 students in total made applications with 53 offers representing a success rate of nearly 1 in 3 (compared to 1 in 7 nationally). Offers were spread evenly between Oxford (27) and Cambridge (26) with students applying to 29 different courses as varied as Computer Science, Law, Architecture, and Anglo-Saxon, Norse, and Celtic.

www.bhasvic.ac.uk/news/oxbridge-offers

Maybe it’s on Progress 8 or Attainment 8 scores or something.

@Mouseykitty I was simply stating a fact. A number of friends have opted for private because their DC were not super academic or were socially a bit shy and they felt that they were being overlooked. No shame in that at all. I also know the drill with the London schools as my own DC went through that process.

@Marchitectmummy - you are spot on.

@Sneezeanddessist - oh please with the veiled implication that private school kids are a bit thick or lacking - 'For ones who are likely to struggle a bit more academically or socially, private can work better as they are more cosseted there'. Many London independents are ferociously academic, with dozens of kids vying for places based on performance in entrance tests and interviews. My DCs school is one of these - and also has many super-bright pupils on full bursaries. (Off topic, but these will probably go as a result of labour's stupid VAT policy).

@EarthlyNightshade - the list of schools for Bristol is extensive, and oddly there are schools in there that are not remotely low performing - Camden Girls being a prime example. Maybe it's something to do with the demographics on the intake at 11plus, but it is surprising for sure.

@Collexifon how long ago was the contextual Bristol offer? I remember seeing a Surrey school I know quite well on their contextual list probably about four years ago and being surprised as it is a very leafy comp. It has been removed from the list now so I think they have been refining a bit in recent years.

Sometimes it’s on where you live rather than school dds friend goes to her school but lives in a trendy town with pockets of deprivation she got a really low contextual offer despite living in a very posh house in said town and parents architects. Dd was most put out friend needed BBB while dd needed AAA!

I am good friends with them so they did tell me. The one that got BBC told my daughter who told me.

I am AMAZED that our local state is on the list as its extremely leafy.

I am surprised that parents want everyone to know that their child got a contextual offer. I would just want to stay quiet about that.
My kids go to a school that used to get a contextual offer from Bristol. Now they have dropped out of the bottom 50% of schools, they don't get it any more. None of the high performing state schools around here would get a contextual offer.
This would mean that private school parents would have to look at low performing schools as their choice of school, and if they do this, then they really will be able to collectively raise the standard of these schools.
From the Bristol website:
You will be eligible for a contextual offer if you apply from an aspiring state school or college. We consider a school or college to be aspiring if it has low average attainment and progression to higher education statistics.

I think the point though (as has been clearly expressed on here) is that sometimes parents feel they have no or very limited choice due to a child's specific needs, or even something as basic as timing of the school day and lack of access to wrap round care or transport.

I wouldn't be happy if I had needed to pay for our children to receive a good education or for reasons of transport after school, I mean we would have done it but not been happy about the decision!

Yep all should be happy with the choices they make. Thought that was what I had said?