6th form colleges for boarding

[floandbo75]

My DD wants to come back to the UK for 6th Form college to study for Medicine in September 2021, we moved to Seattle 5 years ago from Kingston Upon thames and plan to move back in a few years. The timing isn't quite right so she is looking for a boarding school not too far from London, Bristol or Plymouth so that she can be close to some family and friends.
She would ideally like a co-ed school which isn't too large.

We have looked at MaryMount London which I really liked but its girls only, which we wouldn't dismiss completely, but we do have some concerns over the IB Program not being specialized enough for her considering her career choice and the competition to get into medicine at University. Although I do need to do more research on the pros and cons of the IB programme.

We also looked at Hurtwood House, but to be honest alhough she loved the added extras such as the arts, drama, music and dancing, I found it a little too informal and something didn't sit quite right with me.

She is very self motivated and driven, loves learning and gets straight A's in school (all her own hard work) but would like a school that offers extra curriculum activities such as music and sport but does not have to be at a high level. She also works very closely with Special needs children in her school and would love to continue this if possible whether that is in or out of school.

I am now thinking of Caterham School and Ardingly College. Does anyone have any experience with either of these 2 schools? or can anyone recommend a school to me please?

With thanks in advance.

have a look at [https://aldenham.com/the-academic-program/6th-form/ aldenham]]. They offer lots of extra curriculars but the exam results they produce are excellent.
For her helping out with special needs children, there is a multisensory park near the school that runs play sessions for children with special needs link. she could email (ask for the email address on the live chat bit of the website) and ask if she could help out at these play sessions.
all the best with your move x

Whilst a little outside your desired are what used to be CCSS and is now Stephen Perse Sixth form in Cambridge would be worth looking at.

What about Bruton, fits for location with all those. Whilst girls only there is boys boarding in the town too.

Peter Symonds Sixth Form College in Winchester is a state sixth form with a couple of boarding houses. It is an excellent stepping stone between school and uni, and allows the students to get their street smarts in a safe environment; have to handle their work load, and deal with domestics (have to do their own laundry, all facilities provided in the boarding house to do so), whilst being in a sixth form, as opposed to school environment. They are treated as adults as opposed to school kids.

We sent ds there from Belgium for sixth form and he loved it, as did I 30 years earlier. It gave him the independence he needed for university.

Thank you all for your replies, very much appreciated and Happy New Year!

@floandbo75 I know your post hasn’t mentioned Uni fees at all and so you may already know this, but just to say that your DD being in the UK for sixth form is unlikely to change her fee status, if that’s something that matters to you.

I know people at Caterham and they are very positive about it. Quite a 'give lots of things a go even if you arent first team quality' mentality which they like. I cant comment on Ardingly I'm afraid.

Epsom College? They have a historic link to medicine- you can read about it on thier wiki page

@BlueLadyBird

we will hopefully be back in the UK by the time she goes to university, will that not qualify her for residential fees?

I'm pretty sure in order to meet the habitual residence test (to be considered a domestic student) she would have to be living in the UK for three years before application. There are some exceptions (I think military may be one). If you had been living in a EU country that would be different. Definitely check it out before making any plans.

Colchester Royal Grammar school is around an hour or so from London and has an excellent record for sending students on to top universities for medical careers. The sixth form is co-Ed and about 400 in number and they are boarding 30 students this year and looking to increase the number of girls boarding.

Cardiff sixth form college is privately run and takes boarders. Close to train station and short train journey from Bristol and about two hours to London

Pressed post too soon it has a good track record for preparing students for medicine

45 mins from Plymouth by bus www.stover.co.uk/

You need to have been resident in UK for 3 years for home fee status , boarding alone does not count. Caterham is a good option although you may well find schools programmes for Oxbridge /Med candidates start before gcses. There is a wealth of strong sixth form school/colleges. You need to ask how many medics they send each year, to where and how they prepare them. Work experience, volunteering and relevant study beyond the curriculum are all important.

It's 3 years permanent residency (I assume she's British) to qualify for home student fees, so two years 6th form plus a gap year. State boarding is a good option if you can get a place, dd loved it

It’s full 3 academic years btw...not just 36 continuous months...

www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/England-fee-status#layer-6085

Before you panic over university fees OP, if you are UK nationals and have been living abroad temporarily for work purposes you can argue that you were still “ ordinarily resident in UK “ for fee purposes and you will be charged home fees.

Many people do not understand this.

@flickeringcandle45

thank you thats good to know. yes she/we are all British, she was born 2005, we moved in 2014 for work reasons. She will move back September 2021 and we will all move back in September 2022 when we are hoping job security in my husbands field will be better.

If its relevant at all we still pay our monthly NI.

Best school in the U.K. to get into medicine is Cardiff Sixth Form College. 44 received medical places last year. Great work experience programme, very experienced teachers and award winning pastoral care. In Cardiff so close to your Bristol location you mentioned.

I’ve just come to add the following since there seems to be many boarding options and it could get confusing trying to select the right one. As LIZS has said, volunteer work, work experience and outside study are important. I’ve done shortlisting for applicants to Medicine for several years now and see that year on year, the candidates are getting better on paper.

Sports and music interests don’t count for as much nowadays - everybody mentions these, so the discriminator would be awards / prizes for the extracurricular activity, or demonstration of leadership within it I.e. captain of a team / activity organiser rather than participant.

Likewise, volunteer work would need to be longer-term and more substantial than annual soup kitchen helper duties.

The colleges who have experience of sending students to med school will know how to tailor their schedules, facilitate work experience placements and volunteer programmes so that the tickbox exercise of the application form is sorted, at the very least. They will also have far more specific, non-generic interview prep.

Entry to Oxbridge is an entirely different kettle of fish and I don’t know enough to comment, however if your daughter is bent on these two, then I would recommend finding out more about entry to Medicine at Oxbridge from the colleges, not just Medicine.