Explain to me about sixth form colleges

[RaspberryCoulis]

Because these institutions do not exist in Scotland. Once children have sat their National 5s they stay at (the same) school to do their Highers if they are able, more National 5s or National 4s if they are not, or to do a mix of other qualifications. Some will leave to take up an apprenticeship or go to college to take a practical course in something like hairdressing, joinery, building.

But from what I see from friends with kids the same age in England, many schools require minimum grades in GCSEs to win the right to return to school post 16, if they operate a 6th form at all. Do no kids in England not do great in their GCSEs, but return to the same school the next academic year to do maybe one A-level, a couple more GCSEs and an external qualification in catering or something?

So your child leaves school at 16 and heads off to "sixth form college" for their A-levels - how does that work? Is there homework? A uniform? Compulsory attendance? Parents' evenings? Are they in full time, 9-3 monday - friday? Do sixth form colleges take anyone who turns up or do they set entry requirements?

And what happens to the kids who do badly in their GCSEs, aren't allowed to return to school but want another shot at taking them?

I think you're assuming traditional sixth form colleges are the only option post-16. They're not!

Many (most?) schools have sixth forms, there's sixth form colleges which are generally aimed at kids who get 5+ GCSEs at grade 4/5 or higher and want to do a two year programme (A levels or BTEC). Some might also resit one or two GCSEs at the same time. There's also Further Education colleges. These offer one year GCSE courses for kids who need to take several resit GCSEs, lower level vocational qualifications as well as traditional A levels.

All will have entry requirements. For a GCSE or pre-GCSE vocational qual they might only need one or two entry level (pre-GCSE) qual, for A levels it might be 8 grade 7s or higher (though usual wouldn't be that high).

Attendance compulsory, usually no uniform (some like 'business attire' to be worn 🙄), yes to parent evenings, there are usually free periods in the timetable where kids are free to study or bugger off to Burger King.

I live in England and all the schools I know have sixth forms , it’s not a Scottish thing.

In some parts of England colleges are pretty well the only option, in my county there are virtually no state 6th forms in schools.

There are a range of colleges, 6th form colleges which mainly do A levels, FE colleges which do A levels or level 2 courses (GCSE equivalent) alongside resits, as well as level 1 courses for those who cannot access GCSE level work. Then there are technical colleges which are much more vocational, so you have hairdressing, catering etc alongside A levels. There is something for everyone.

I have a dc at sixth form. There are entry requirements to attend, each subject kids want to study needs a minimum GCSE grade otherwise they aren't allowed in, plus passes in English and Maths. Most children study 3 A Levels although some are doing 4. Uniform is required although is slightly different to years 7-11. It's the only secondary school in the area with a sixth form, therefore often over subscribed.

I should also add attendance is compulsory, if required grades aren't met throughout the first year then students can't carry on into the second year and will have to find another option like college or an apprenticeship, and they are only in school 15 hours a week but required to do at least 15 hours of work at home.

Seems to be very different across the country then. I know for relatives living in an area with grammar schools the local non-grammar high schools finished after GCSE and just didn't offer A-levels at all. Kids had to either apply to get into a grammar school or go to sixth form college.

We have sixth form colleges in Hampshire. 16 year olds leave school after GCSEs and, broadly speaking, either go to sixth form for A levels or to a college of further education for vocational or skills based training or they get a job or apprenticeship .

The sixth form that my dc went to expected students to attend classes but they did not need to be in college al day. All students were in a tutor group of around 20 and met their tutor twice a week.

There is no uniform but lots of homework. There were parents evenings although these were by invitation and you were only invited to attend if there were issues. If your dc were attending, submitting work on time and achieving reasonable grades you were not required to attend parents evenings.

There were lots of extra curricular activities and all students were expected to do at least one per term.

There's other options than A levels.

Btecs, apprenticeships, I think T levels are a thing still and other vocational courses are on offer. Entry requirements vary and there's usually the option to resit gcse English and maths. Some colleges will offer further options. Generally they will offer a larger range of courses than a school sixth form.

Whether they're in full time or not will depend on the course and timetable allocation. Our local one only requires you to be on site for timetabled lessons and there are several free periods a week.

Is there homework? A uniform? Compulsory attendance? Parents' evenings? Are they in full time, 9-3 monday - friday? Do sixth form colleges take anyone who turns up or do they set entry requirements?

No school sixth forms in this town, just the sixth form college and an FE college.

No uniform, plenty of homework. Attendance compulsory but not if they don't have lessons timetabled. Can leave site during the day or at lunch. Yes to parent's evenings.

Entry requirements vary depending on the course applied for. Higher for A-levels, lower for BTECs/vocational courses. If the lower requirements aren't met they can do a year of Level 2 courses and GCSE resits.

In our part of England, there are only sixth-form colleges, which are separate to schools and have huge catchment areas.

The one where I worked had no uniforms, had lessons 9-4.30 and also parents' evenings. Teaching staff also had to interview prospective students throughout the year, and deal with the inevitably upset students and angry parents if the DC didn't meet entry requirements. We had to staff the enrolment period during summer too, and all teaching staff were on minimum wage, zero-hours contracts. Fun!

On the plus side, I think they're great for developing young people's independence, because our college felt a lot like a tiny university. I know FE is a sector that's chronically underfunded - just wish they'd valued their teachers more!

Where I live (east mids) there are sixth forms in many schools though not all. Most sixth forms offer only A-levels though there are a few where you can also do a BTEC alongside a couple of A levels.

Anyone can apply to any school sixth form - my DCs' school has quite a lot of external students coming in at year 12 from a nearby school with no sixth form and some from schools with sixth forms, because of its A-level offer (range of MFL, music, politics, PE at A level).

There are other options, notably the city centre college which offers vocational courses such as catering or engineering, and also A-levels; other sixth form colleges a bit further afield are also popular.

In general, school sixth forms ask for business attire tho some don't; college has no uniform. There are parents' evenings; schools usually expect students to be there all day, college, while technically full time, usually allows at least one free day a week IME. Handy for driving lessons.

Retakes - fairly standard at college, possible at school tho unusual - but a mate of DS2's got a 3 in English, was allowed into school sixth form to study sciences, retook Eng in November and got a 6. I guess they knew the 3 was an aberration. I also know students who have basically redone yr 11 at college, retakign perhaps five or six GCSEs.

Basically there are lots of options and something to suit most people.

In my county sixth forms are mostly within schools. There is one sixth form college in the county.
Typically the school sixth forms are harder to get into with minimum GCSE grades. So sixth forms do become selective even at non-selective comprehensives. I guess it is to ensure only those able to get worthwhile A level passes spend 2 years on these A levels.
The sixth form college would typically have no entrance requirements particularly and do other qualifications as well as A levels, such as vocational courses.
But the location of sixth forms in schools versus specialised colleges varies by county.
Those in schools will have uniforms, attendance rules etc. Mine DC's is very very strict. The colleges will have no uniform and be more like university.

Retakes are generally organised by the school that you took the original GCSE at where I am.

@MyDcAreMarvel

I live in England and all the schools I know have sixth forms , it’s not a Scottish thing.

I'm in the south east and several local schools finish at y11. The kids transfer in to a school with a sixth form or they go to college. The colleges offer all sorts from A levels, BTec, vocational etc. The school sixth forms do A levels.

I know FE is a sector that's chronically underfunded - just wish they'd valued their teachers more!

Sixth Form colleges proper (as opposed to FE colleges) are pretty good places to work as we have basically the same pay and conditions as school teachers. with a bit of tweaking to reflect the needs of the sector eg I finish a week earlier in summer and start a week earlier in September, and have a higher teaching load that’s balanced out by more gained time in summer.

I'm also in Hampshire and am glad we have 6th form colleges, as, as already mentioned, OST schools don't have a sixth form.

There's the highest academic achieving 6th form in the country (vies with Hills Rd, Cambridge every year...); Peter Symonds in Winchester, which is a bit harder to get into, then there are an array of others where you can do 4 A levels, or a cobble together of GCSE retakes, other level 2 and 3 courses, with lots of extra curricular, free periods, no uniform and parents evenings only if there are 'concerns'.

Like someone said, they're also a good prep for uni.

@GravityFalls

I know FE is a sector that's chronically underfunded - just wish they'd valued their teachers more!

Sixth Form colleges proper (as opposed to FE colleges) are pretty good places to work as we have basically the same pay and conditions as school teachers. with a bit of tweaking to reflect the needs of the sector eg I finish a week earlier in summer and start a week earlier in September, and have a higher teaching load that’s balanced out by more gained time in summer.

If the government were serious about 'levelling up', they'd spend big on what used to be called Technical colleges, as they're often chronically underfunded compared to sixth form colleges.

DS stayed in at sixth form, he got good GCSE's that meant he met the entry requirements (which are higher than the local colleges requirements)

He is required to be in every morning for first registration, but can leave if he has no lessons. It's somewhat discouraged but they are allowed.

There's no uniform but a reasonable dress code eg. no extreme hair cuts, no excessively short skirts or ripped jeans and no T-shirts with offensive logos.

For DS it's a lot more freedom than he was allowed in school, for others transferring from other schools I suspect it's a little regimented.

I had the option of going to my school 6th form or the local 6th form college (Surrey). I went to the 6th form college and it was great - as a Pp said, it really builds your independence. First names with tutors, attend for classes and manage your own time and workload, no uniform etc. It was great prep for uni, my friends who stayed at school found the transition more tricky.

I think most school sixth forms just do A levels as they don't have the resources/funding or the space to offer retakes/BTecs/other post 16 options.

DD's school was the only one in our local authority to offer post 16 education, and you needed enough GCSEs at the right grades to go there.

The 6th form college in the nearest town offers A levels (and Btecs, I think) and the FE college does vocational courses like plumbing, electrician, hairdressing etc. About half of year 11 stayed on for 6th form at school, some went to the 6th form/FE colleges in town, and some went to one of the best 6th form colleges in the country.

Uniform is generally not worn at state 6th forms, yes to parents evenings, and yes to compulsory lesson attendance.

Also Hants.
So we have a choice of

• 2 or 3 colleges that specialise in A levels
• 1 that offers both A levels and BTECs
• 1 or 2 that are 'BTEC' only
• an agricultural college

To do A levels you need a decent bunch of GCSEs, and usually 6s in the subjects you are taking forward (not always though)
BTECs at level 3 need 4 or 5 passes at GCSE
BTECs at level 2 need approx 4 at grade 3 (so not quite passes)
BTECs at level 1 need nothing much at all

The system in Hants means you have to make an active choice, no staying on at school doing something inappropriate because you are scared to move or want to stay with friends. It does have its down sides too.

Although where I live (also Hants) about 95% seem to go to our nearest college, so they are still with friends by and large

My daughter will be staying on at school for sixth form the uniform is just as strict as lower school from the school supplier , just a different design. They are allowed hair accessories and low key make up in years 12-13 but no piercings other than ear lobes.

I've taught in all 3 sectors - FE, Sixth Form College and a school Sixth form. I taught the same subject in all 3 places,

The key difference is a school sixth form is linked to a school, so teachers will teach all ages 11-19.

FE generally takes students 16+ but with no upper age limit. My eldest student in FE was 62. Often FE colleges offer more vocational qualifications - hairdressing etc but they can also specialise in A levels too. My FE college did.

Sent too early..,

Sixth form colleges generally teach 16-19 and have better funding than FE. FE is definitely the poor relation in terms of funding.

Entrance requirements are set by the institution. Colleges do tend to be more open access but my last school had lower requirements than my current college does.

Colleges tend not to have uniforms, and students are free not to be in when not in lessons. No morning tutor time etc... but all the other things are the same - reports, parents evening and the like.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each system. For example college lecturers tend to be more specialists in the subjects they teach.