To think asking for 6 level 7 (A) GCSE grades to enter the schools sixth form is a bit intense !

[firefly400]

DD is year 10 and to get in to her schools sixth form requires 6 level 7 ,and 2 level 6 GCSE's this is equivalent to 6 A and 2 B grades on the current grading system. I think this creates unfair pressure on pupils who most probably left to their own devices i.e not have to have 'sleepless' nights would achieve.

The school has problems with some girls suffering from Anorexia , Bulimia and self harming . The school should have a more reasonable (though appropriate expectation for A or level 7 grades in just the A levels required for study).

This alone would reduce the 'fear' and concern on my own daughter. Do they want to make their own 'very' bright pupils anxious for some kind of power race with over schools !

'We have more stringent entry requirements than you ' though our girls are always afraid of not getting an A*

Secondly getting 8 A at GCSE does not always equate to 3 A at A Level similarly as demonstrated by my Nephew getting no A at GCSE (only 4 A grades) does not mean you can't get A A level he got 2A and 1 A. The 2 A were in English and Chemistry ( Chemistry Dept did not think he was up to it since he only scraped a A at GCSE)

The final point what a pupil is at 16 is not comparable to the pupil at 18 !

So you have a child at a school where there are 700 applicants for 100 places in year 7. Presumably they can then select the brightest of those 700? Why are you then surprised that they cherry pick outstanding students for sixth form?

You claim that a child at 16 isn't the same as one at 18. What about a child of 10 or 11 compared to a child of 16? Because presumably your daughter got in due to her performance at the end of primary school.

Issues that the mental health of students is at risk, and that students are worrying about their performance or want to go the same school as their friends are all issues that could apply equally to year 6 students wanting a place at the school.

You're basically taking issue over academic selection when you've happily sent your daughter to an academically selective school.

If your kid got into a massively academic school then surely getting As and Bs at GCSE should be a piece of cake? Unless the school is actually really shit?

When I did my a levels you were required to get 4 gcse's above a c grade. Hardly any of my friends would have got in to 6th form needing the grades in the OP. despite that between us are a pharmacist, a social worker, a drug and alcohol counsellor, 3 teachers, an SLT and a dentist. With no less than a 2:1, 4 1sts and 3 Mscs. Make of that what you will...

why did you choose the school in the first place OP? For the excellent GSCE and A level results? And how do you think they achieved them?

I think where you do your A levels is about the "fit" as well as the grades. All my three have gone to different sixth forms. Academic reputation was only part of the story for us.

Our requirements for 'stayers' are lower than that (too low if you ask me), we don't actually officially have requirements for new students but their results will be significantly higher than that.
I resent the idea that it is not possible to combine a focus on academic achievement with a concern for mental health. It is. Things have improved vastly since my own time as a grammar student. If we're talking about a grammar school then the grades you have mentioned shouldn't be a big ask for the students and shouldn't make them feel pressured. The school will know who is at 'risk' of not making the requirements and should be supporting those students (as indeed all students) in both reaching the required grade and making the best decision of what to do next.

Honestly what did you expect?

Honestly, I find your attitude utterly bizarre. You've been in the super selective system all this time and now you want the school to be different somehow for 6th form.

Being in a school with high academic expectations will not necessarily lead to mental health problems. It should lead to motivated and high achieving pupils - many of whom will get A* grades or the new equivalent. So I don't see a problem with these grade requirements for sixth form.

If you don't think your daughter will achieve or exceed these grades you should be talking to the school now about how they are supporting and encouraging her.

The only school around here which has a similar requirement (and the anorexia), is a private selective school. I think their philosophy is that any girl who has got in at 11 if she works should get the grades. Admittedly under the new grading it is a bit of an unknown quantity, but under the last system it wasn't that arduous. My DD got good enough grades at her non-selective State school, and she was somewhat disappointed with her results.
I would also recommend that you both at least look at the alternatives. My DD moved to a local sixth form college and it has been ideal for her (and I wish we'd looked at this college for her older brother). You may be surprised at which friends do "move on". And with my local private girls school, sometimes some subjects are much better somewhere else: e.g. For the private school "Textiles" is better taught at the local comp; or Philosophy is better taught at my DD's college than anywhere else around.

Guess if you sent your dd to one of the shittest comps in the country you wouldn't have this issue. You can fail all your gcses and be accepted into sixth form. Obviously the sixth form is also shit.

Before all the new scoring system wasn't the GCSE requirement for A Level 5 grades A*-C?

I did well at A Level but only had B's across the board at GCSE - the new system confuses me so much!

If you are happy with the principle of selection at 11, you should also be happy with it at 16.

I agree with others. The entry requirements and selection process is no tougher nor more unfair than what it was at age 11. You can't throw your toys out of the pram now when you chose to put your child under similar pressure 5 years ago to gain entry to the school.

Op, what is she predicted to get? Is it in the same corridor as is required? If not do you have a back up plan, another school? I understand her friends are there, but remember they also have to achieve these grades or will no longer be there.

I agree it's tough on kids these days, you have clearly picked a school for her that is focused on academic results, so this criteria should be to be expected, those school results are not achieved simply because it's a great school, but also because they have the top performing kids there.

To be fair though, if your daughter wants to go to uni, it doesn't stop there. My daughter needed three As at A level to get the uni of her choice, which fortunately she did get, but one of her friends didn't slightly and the pain of clearance was quite brutal.

They then have to pass every year of uni to get into the next year. So 400 kids started with my daughter in her first year at uni, this year her second year, only 200 made it back. What happened to those 200 kids who did not make it i wonder. 😞

It's tough, because it's a juggling act between aspirations and ability and if those two don't match, then the pressure on the kid can be very damaging indeed.

YANBU. Most GCSEs are hardly worth the paper they are written on- Maths, English and a modern foreign language, science and a couple of others should be the focus.

Most aspects of education these days are a bit intense.

My friend has a D's in Y9 at a grammar school. He's been 10 mins late a few times ( transport issues) and received a letter reminding him that admission to the sixth form tales factors like attendance and punctuality into account.

Did they not have the pressure of getting the right grades to be selected at year 7?
I would have thought it would be expected in such a school.
Also, I do t know how much times have changed but I got 10 As at gcse and 3Cs at a level, I found them so so so much harder. I think if you're not easily achieving As at gcse, alevels might not be for you.

Glad I read the whole thread and now understand that it's a super selective. I don't think ds's school require such high grades. I'll have to find out.

I agree with others - I'm not sure why you are challenging the very selective entry requirements at this stage when this was the school you chose for your DD. Presumably she had to pass a pretty stringent selection process to get in in the first place? Or have they shifted the goalposts since she joined and the selection criteria are now harder for the sixth form than they were?

Is she at a "super selective" grammar school. DD goes to one and I'm pretty sure their requirements are not that high for those who are already in the school. It may be that high for those applying from other schools though. If she is already there have you checked that this isn't the entry requirement for those coming in from outside rather than those already there?

First of all my DD and all her friends are predicted to achieve the stringent expectations. However, the academic requirements have caused pupils and parents some genuine concern. The school is obsessed with A* grades to such an extent they are ignorant to the mental exhaustion of a large no of girls.

Why is there a kind of 'you made your own bed now lie in it type attitude'. There is one state school in Surrey i know off (not daughters) that is putting its girls under such pressure that at least 10 girls in year 11 are under CAHMS !

P.S My DD wanted to go to the school and still wants to stay for sixth form, but there are a number of very disgruntled parents and pupils.

I agree with others - I'm not sure why you are challenging the very selective entry requirements at this stage when this was the school you chose for your DD. Presumably she had to pass a pretty stringent selection process to get in in the first place? Or have they shifted the goalposts since she joined and the selection criteria are now harder for the sixth form than they were?

The goal posts have been shifted really as these are new exams and everyone's a bit uncertain about how they will correlate with the previous GCSEs (i.e. six level 7s may turn out to be harder than six As) which creates added pressure when pupils are already feeling the pressure to high results to not get chucked out of the school they have attended since year 7.

Mary. They are the same entry requirements for new pupils and those who have been at the school since year 7 .

Just looked at some grammar schools around country and their entry requirements . Typically most just require 3 A grades (7) for access to sixth form i.e the proposed ones to be studied !

My old grammar school in Kent only requires 4 B grades and gets perfectly acceptable results at sixth form .

OP How else do you suggest they choose if the demand for places exceeds the number they can offer?