Any experience of Kings Maths School vs LAE for 6th form?

Ah, I think I know the one you mean! It’s supposed to be fabulous

Hello everyone my son has gotten into KLMS i was just wondering if anyone knows anyone who attends who could tell us how they found it. Currently, some scholarships are open to him, but for some reason, he is set on kings, so could anyone tell me how they find it and what they would do?

When he gets further into maths he’ll start to notice the differences between pure maths and applied maths. Both feature in maths degrees, but the latter is also the basis of physics and engineering (and computing). Most mathmos have a distinct preference for one or the other, and that will probably make the choice a bit clearer for him.

Then you need to start looking at Mumsnet's Higher Education forum. There are lots of knowledgeable people on there.

For those of us who did go to uni, our advice to our DCs can often be clouded by our own past experiences from 30 years ago. I've learned a lot from Mumsnet about how things work now, and it has definitely benefitted my DCs to have that insight.

Honestly, A levels go so quickly - his feet will barely touch the ground. And I think you said earlier he’s a pretty sociable kid - he might well have found Kings quite stifling, socially. It’s a very quiet, demure sort of place! My younger son couldn’t wait to get out of there.

agree also that KCLMS might well have seen how well supported your son is with extra-curricular maths activities, and if spaces are tight they could well have decided that another kid needs the place more than he does. It would be easy for them to scoop up all the most talented and well-supported Y11s and take credit for the resulting avalanche of A stars at A Level. One of the reasons I admire the school is that they do something more difficult than that. But it sounds like your son might have got the sticky end of that deal.

To show what I meant, this screenshot of the admissions policy explains how KCLMS score the interviews. The school will have more value-added impact on applicants who are not already participating in programmes like COMPOS. Your son has been fortunate to get a place on that.

I’m sorry about your son’s disappointment @JusteanBiscuits and I know what he/you mean about missing out on the experience.

I suspect re-applying is not practical or possible, but only the school will know for sure.

Uni admissions is really where his head needs to go now. (This time next year (Y12) is when the whole process begins with open days etc - A levels go incredibly quickly.) If he takes three years to do maths-based A Levels without any compelling reason for the extra time taken (health etc), he’s probably ruling himself out of contention for Oxbridge, Warwick and Imperial (the best Uk maths unis) and possibly for the top of the next tier too. The whole point about A levels, from a competitive uni’s perspective, is that they’re quick and intense and everyone does them at the same rate and under the same time pressure.

Once he gets to university (assuming he will do maths!) he’ll be surrounded by mathmos to his heart’s content.

It sucks, but he’s clearly very talented and will get where he wants to be.

If he said he was doing this in his KCLMS interview/application then it might have put him in the "doesn't need KCLMS as much as others" pile.

That looks a really good programme.

A bit like getting into Oxbridge, the maths schools are not the be all and end all. I'm sure your son was disappointed not to get an offer but it seems he is on the right track to do very well at school and beyond.

I spoke to the Head of Maths at the Imperial Maths school open evening. I was actually asking a slightly different question but she seemed to imply their age range was non-negotiable. As mentioned above, each school may have a slightly different admissions policy.

From what I can tell, several of the maths schools are not expanding their places quite as fast as anticipated. KCLMS recently won the Times Sixth Form College of The Year award and its last A level results were better than ever. I can only see competition to get in becoming even more intense next year.

PROMYS Europe – Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists might be of interest - deadline is soon though

I feel for you @JusteanBiscuits . My son has been several years ahead of his peers at maths since he was at primary school. His secondary school has promised several things to support his advanced maths development but little of it has panned out. This was the main reason he applied to the maths schools.

Some of the things you could look at include the UK Maths Trust which publishes resources and also has a mentoring scheme (the Cambridge Maths school recommended this to us.)

Cambridge University which partners with its maths school also supports and funds the nrich programme (www.nrich.maths.org).

The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme is a government-funded initiative that supports enrichment of maths at all ages up to A level and includes problem solving classes etc.

Kings Maths School itself runs several outreach activities for 16 plus.

If you are not short of money, there are several organisations that run mini-camps during the school holidays that are STEM orientated. These often run at Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College.

These are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head but if you search online, I'm sure you can find plenty of maths enrichment options.

KCLMS was founded to give extended maths opportunities to students that might not otherwise get them, so your son may not be in their target demographic.

The admissions policy doesn't mention in-year admissions. It does say they only keep their waiting list open until 1st October, which implies the door is closed after that.

So you mean he would start year 12 at a local sixth form then drop out to re-start year 12 at KCLMS? Or do you mean he would apply to go into year 13?

There are maths programmes he can engage with outside of school - maybe he should look at those.