Getting into a private 6th form after state secondary

[easton]

Does anyone know whether this happens a lot or are the 6thform places kept for children already in the school?

Our local secondary does not have sixth form so I am looking into the options. I realise that it varies with every school and I am talking about a local private school not Eton or harrow.

Thanks

very common - ask the school
here in southern Hampshire very few of the State schools have 6th form.
Kids who do not want to go to one of the big colleges can switch to KES

I'd have thought most private schools would prioritise their own year 11s for VI form places though there would probably be a few spaces. Your best bet might be looking at a co-ed VI form in a single-sex school of the opposite sex to your child.

never heard of it being a problem - lots of swapping around for 6th form here including state to private and vice versa. dc's school always takes a handful of external pupils for ks5

It's common here.

The school will prioritise it's own pupils then offer places to those outside. Generally they seem to find places.

There are always vacancies. Loads opf children move at 16+. Some from private day schools apply for boarding. Some move from private to a good state such as Cambridge's Hills Road. Some apply to a mixed one - one of ours applied to Westminster for the sixth form from a top day girls school. A very few are so useless at GCSE a level will not suit them so they leave and a vacancy arises. Always worth applying. Apply in plenty of time.

It's not uncommon - many schools have an expanded sixth form. I would imagine that this particularly applies in areas with schools that have no sixth form. Apart from privates, if your area has any grammars, they may have additional sixth form entry based on gcse results - DDs goes from 4 to 6 forms.

Don't be shy about asking the local private school - if they do have places you're a potential customer!

The highest performing schools could have vacancies because they expand the 6th form. Often the best schools will ask for at least 6 x A/A* grades though because they want to keep results up and will have shed the least able pupils after GCSE. Any mid table independent school will probably have places and not all are full in each year group anyway. Be careful how many are recruited from abroad though as this can become a fairly high percentage in some boarding schools.

how about going from a superselective grammar to sixth form at somewhere like Westminster, St Paul's or Winchester ....is that heard of (assuming you get the 6A or A* at GCSE)?

In my year at school (ex-secondary modern turned comp - nothing like a grammar yet alone a super selective grammar) one girl went on to Malborough for the 6th form and one boy went onto Charterhouse. Didn't happen very often but obviously not impossible.

At my friends private school they ask for 6 A's to attend the 6th form and they interview but state school pupils can go there.

nibs, I'm sure that does happen.
I was helping with university interviewsd for girls a few years ago at North London Collegiage (which is similar to West, St Paul's etc for exams - top 5 private sector girls' day school). One of the girls had moved into NLCS for sixth form from a state comp - www.hasmonean.co.uk/. There will also be a few places in the best schools at sixth form level. Always worth a try. A friend of mine who lives abroad sent her 3 sons to a UK boarding school for sixth form only - they were educated until then elsewhere in the EU where work had taken their parents and then went on or are going on to UK universities.

Thanks all.. Looking at St Paul's website for sixth form there are a very few very limited places ....I am sure these top indy schools are going to be looking only at sixth form applicants for the academic stars ...but good to aim high..