N London 6th form offers

@user1471463696 I think you need to have a couple of back ups with lower grades. It sounds crazily competitive but the reality as far as I can tell is that most kids seem to get the school they want, as long as they have the required grades. Not many of the schools where I live have 6th forms so nearly everyone leaves the borough. Remember everyone is applying for multiple schools, so one person's number one won't be the same as someone else's.

For example my Dd has applied to similar schools to @Wincher but she'd probably rank CGS first, then LaSwap, then LAET/ Woodhouse.

External sadly. I've emailed them and will let you know what they say

Are you external or internal candidate for La swap? You seem to have much more leeway if internal.

Some schools ask you to be around that week. Two of my DS choices (north London) have said that you need to be around on 27-28 August. Though one sounds more flexible than the other.

I will have this next year. What I don’t understand is, what if you go to your first choice college and all the places have been filled? Do you then have to go round to your second, third choice - won’t they already be filled too?

Exactly. If you have a place already then you can just confirm on email, assuming you get the grades - but still wise to be around in case you don't get their grades. But if you don't have a pre GCSE results day offer then it's a scramble.

It’s like a crazy Wild West, isn’t it? My understanding is that you have to be around on results day and there’s a mad rush to the most competitive colleges to enrol. But I’m hoping after then they aren’t needed until 1/2 Sep. I think it was Woodhouse that seems to have induction day on 1 Sep. So I’m hoping we can go away from Friday 21st to Mon 31st. I can’t take time off the first half of August, we have plans the last weekend of July and we have a younger child at school, so that’s our only slot to go away!

I agree it must be super hard for colleges to plan when people can hold multiple offers. My DS is hoping for LAET, and if not that then LaSwap, Woodhouse, maybe Mossbourne. His school doesn’t have a sixth form so he has to go somewhere else! He does have an offer from our local sixth form college already though.

I know that's why they can't do it but the lack of any sort of system leaves a lot of guesswork.

None of the 6 th form offerings around us are linked in any way so DC are asked if they have applied elsewhere at interview but I can't think that everyone is honest or accurate. Must be a nightmare to organise.

A deposit could be unfair for lower income households.

All of the ones except Woodhouse that dd applied for were on the Applica system and you had to give them a ranking, which I read is illegal on another thread. So I guess they have a vague idea based on rankings. But I did know a couple of kids last year that held on to multiple places for a couple of weeks while they decided.

I think it's easier to do that at the bigger schools like LaSwap, but places like the LAEs want you to confirm definitely as they have a waiting list and limited places.

Agreed.

It feels lime there needs to be an admission coordination system or you pay a deposit or something to make it all less vague.

Thanks @Stowickthevast, that's helpful. DS got good mock results so he may be OK – I was planning to get back from holiday on the 23rd. But I'll email them and ask just to be safe.

Sure, I can still make it work. It's just frustrating that in an era when practically everything else is done online – even things you'd rather do in person – they can't arrange for this to be done online as well. Such is life I supppose.

It's not lime university at all. Mostly because because there is no 'UCAS' coordinating it all.

You could apply to 10 different 6th forms and have no intention of taking a place at any of them - how can they know? None of them have any coordinated collaboration or way of checking where you have applied, for what subjects or how likely you are to go to each.

Must be a nightmare for them too

Yes, that's exactly right.

Also Reading is the weekend after - 26th I believe.

@Melarus I thought LaSwap were a bit more relaxed about it.

The LAEs definitely expect you to be there but a friend's kid was fine with LaSwap as she got the necessary grades. But another friend didn't get the grades in their chosen subjects so had to go in to negotiate which courses they could do with what they had. LaSwap seems to fill the places they have and then offer places in other courses where there is still room to people with lower grades. Purely anecdotal but what I've seen in my friends' kids - a lot of LaSwap attendees where we live!

You've got the rest of the summer to go away!

Yep. LaSWAP expect you to be there on results day too.

Absolutely do not go away on GCSE results day unless you are planning on staying at same school and are sure they will get the results needed.

If you're applying externally, especially in London then it's military operation time. I know parents last year who had one waiting at new school while other went with child to collect results and then get them down to the gates of the other as fast as possible.

DD's secondary had over 2k applications for 40 external places.

Thanks. Gosh. No one ever mentioned this to me. We may have to completely rejig our summer plans 😔

You'd think in this day & age, where you can hardly even pay a bill or buy a ticket or make an appointment unless you do it online, they'd figure out a way to let the kids accept their sixth form places without scuppering their families' holidays ..... (rant over)

And they are much more over subscribed since VAT on private schools.

Not here.

All our local high schools are open with dc going in to collect paper results.

You don't go away for gcse results day on y11, nor a level results day in y13. It's always been wise to be around.