Are school sixth forms that rank applicants by GCSE grades in breach of the admissions code?

There was a lot of discussion about sixth form admissions codes on this thread - https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/5292130-sw-london-how-hard-are-6th-form-admissions-would-you-avoid-a-secondary-without-6th-form?page=3

If that key difference is allowed (for good reason), and that's the only way they are being treated any differently, there isn't a problem. Ranking by ability is obvious.

Grammar school near me does this. Internal candidates get in on seven 7s (many will have more) but external candidates not really considered unless they are close to being all 9s.
The outstanding state school does this as well, where current pupils sometimes get to stay without meeting minimum standards (say, they got an unexpected 4 in maths) whereas external students have to have the 777 666 needed.

OTOH it is the same and thus fair.

Admission criteria: Places will be given to anyone who meets the minimum academic standard

Oversubscription criteria

1. Internal candidates who took their GCSEs at the school
2. External candidates Within each criteria the over subscription is 'best GCSE average grades'

However by definition (assuming 6th form PAN is the same as the rest of the school) there will be sufficient spaces for all current pupils to move up to 6th form so the over subscription 'best GCSE grades' never has to be applied in practice to internal candidates.

The problem is lack of spaces.

My DD's comp has a 6th form with 200 places overall.

Not all over those places are even for A levels as they also run a T level course.

Of those 200 places, 160 are ring-fenced for internal candidates.

There are 435 pupils in current Y11, and only space for 160 of those, so the bar to stay on is extremely high. Minimum of 6 x 7-9 grades including English and Maths.

40 spaces are for external candidates - iirc there have been in excess of 1k applications this year.

Oversubscription is based on ranked GCSE results for external candidates. I don't really see how else you can do it given it's also about what A level subject choices they have made.

Can’t sixth forms set their own code then? The grade requirements round here vary wildly ( no grammars) and existing pupils always are guaranteed places if they get the minimum requisite grades.
But some sixth firms want 7s whereas others do a point system ( eg42). So no standard code at all.

But the point the OP is making is not that a grammar school shouldn't be allowed to use an academic selection process, but that the criteria should (according to the rules) be the same for both internal and external candidates. So no, having an entrance test for every applicant (including internal applicants) would not be more unfair than the current procedure (i.e. internal applicants all getting a place if they meet the minimum entry requirements, but external applicants not getting a place unless they are in the top end of those meeting minimum entry requirements).

You are free to object to the schools adjudicator if you believe they are in breach of the Code. The deadline is 15 May.

You are right it breaches the code. Personally I think the code is wrong. Internal candidates who meet the academic requirements should have priority.

Hi OP,

ah, right, I didn’t know that - as I said, I haven’t read the admissions code.

I suppose you could argue that because when students join in y7 via the 11+ they are ranked primarily on score (sometimes with a distance/catchment area element e.g. a number of spaces reserved for children living within a certain distance of the school), then it is right to apply the same sort of oversubscription criteria to external 6th form applicants i.e. to rank on GCSE score.

But the whole rule of essentially prioritising internal students does seem unfair on external applicants, particularly for those applying from schools that do not have a 6th form and so have to apply elsewhere. But that’s a whole other discussion, I guess!

Hmm, if you say so, not sure I believe this unless you want your child to be competing with less able students

This is an interesting point, OP.

I assume what you mean is that if a grammar school 6th form has, for example, minimum grade requirements of 6 7s at GCSE.

Usually what happens is that all pupils already at the school, as long as they get 6 7s, are guaranteed a place in the 6th form. External candidates are then ranked according to GCSE results. So if there are more external applicants than places, then you could get a scenario where an external candidate does not get a place, even if they have higher grades than an existing pupil.

Whereas what a school should be doing is ranking all candidates, internal and external, according to GCSE results and then admitting the top 180 or however places they have. And that may mean that some internal candidates miss out. But yes, I believe you are correct, and this is not what schools do in practice.

I have not read the admissions code for state 6th forms, though, so there may be something in the fine print or something that allows it.

I actually think the distance/catchment etc should apply for those with required criteria as for those more local etc there is like to be transport whereas there may not be for elsewhere. Particularly in rural areas where certain villages form part of the catchment.

Sadly the schools want to focus on good results and leavers destination don’t they.

Well, yes, surely GCSE results are as valid a way as the 11+?

Surely fairer to rely on GCSEs than make students jump through additional hoops for the sake more exam results?

Don't all the schools (not just grammar) do this to some extent though on individual courses? So if they have 10 spaces on their "Applied Sewing" course, they will select the best candidates not just take the 10 who live closest.

The schools set their own admissions criteria and determining a pass mark and rank ordering by ability is valid for them to set out.