Peter Symonds Winchester- just heard...

[Tansie]

...that they've apparently increased their intake by 500?? Friend's DS says that you now have to be there really early in order to get a place on a computer at the Study Centre (or whatever it's called) and that the place is heaving.

Anyone else found this? It's a possibility for my DS but I am getting a bit nervous! The friend's DS (high enough achieving, I should add, ex-private school, sports teams, 'proper' A levels)- says he feels he's increasingly 'just a grade point', not an individual ...

Tween You'll either smile or grimace- I now see that we're on a private, exclusive look around BP tomorrow!

I'll be at BP Weds and Brock next week as well.

Shall I wear Boden, a Mn Scarf and eat Pom Bears?

I see BP won't publish their latest results til tomorrow's Open evening! At least, I can't find them online!

And I am a bit at how many DC at PSC in Maths AS got a D, E or U! 32% of them! Assuming they all had to have an A at GCSE in order to be allowed to do Maths at PSC? For the record, a third got an A.

But there are kids doing the AS with the plan of dropping it, who should probably never have started it or who were overly tutored / spoon fed through their GCSEs
What were the A level grades as they are what actually matters
545 students 109 x A* 150 x A 121 x B

I'd imagine, though, that the third who got D-U at AS didn't go on to take the A2, though!

I am a bit as to why so many A grade Maths GCSE students went on to do so badly at Maths AS at such a 'top sixth form, that's all. Hardly 'value adding'!

Tansie
Ask them : I'd be interested to know what they say.

And its not really a "top" 6th form : 5 A grades at GCSE as I have been reminded at GREAT length on the selective thread is not amazing

There's any number of reasons. In some subjects, including Maths and MFL, GCSE is an appalling predictor of future success. The A grade can cover all the bases from candidates who are great at learning stuff by heart for exams, but who have no fundamental understanding, through to ones who have really "got it", and who would have been A*s in another setting. Not every student then takes the support that is available; not every student "gets" AS, even with support. Sometimes it's good to let them have a go at the exam anyway, so as not to end the year with nothing. For some, that D or E represents a year hard work and constant attendance at lunch time sessions, and they and their teachers are jolly proud of them - even when no apparent value is added. It's devastating when an apparently good student just doesn't get, and when no amount of support seems able to shift that - but sometimes it happens. If I knew exactly why and how, I'd be rich.

Schools are more likely to pull them before the exam to keep their figures looking good. It's worth also seeing how many candidates sit the exam compared to how many are on the course in, say, November. The A2 figures tell you a lot more, tbh.

talkin - I cannot link to 'the evidence', but, of-its-kind (this is important- and reflects the majority of DC in the UK's experience), it was my understanding that PSC comes second only to Hills Rd Cambridge in terms of results. It's my belief that if you're going to do facilitating A levels, you're gonna need more than '5 A grade GCSEs' to get in! That's a bit disingenuous!

Tansie from my understanding (which may not be correct) PSC is not academically selective as such. If you meet the general criteria and any course specific criteria, then they are happy to offer a place.

I also understand that they do run some kind of 'catchment' system, whereby people living in Winchester or going to one of the 'feeder' schools (including for example both comps in Romsey) get priority over others.

However I can see there is maybe self selection going on. People who are more concerned about DCs ability to cope, may decide BP would be a better fit.

Disclaimer: This is only what I have come to understand from open evenings and 6th form info sessions. It may all be wrong.

Tansie
Listen to Lemonsole : she teaches there
and as I say, ask them outright : as stats are surreal things

That's about it teenandtween - my dc went to one of the 'catchment' schools and, as you say, as long as they met the basic criteria then PSC would take them. Individual courses are dependent on meeting specific criteria but there are plenty that only ask for the basic entry requirements.

And not now, but in previous years you could have a fair few goes at achieving a good GCSE level grade.

Ds's cousin took History three times and now boasts an A*. In fact she was astounded that ds's GCSEs were a once-only shot. She has better grades than he does, taking many of them twice and, as I said, History three times.

So, you will get kids taking, say, Maths, who may be sitting there with a good grade but they are by no means natural mathematicians.

[Another point but one that makes me gnash my teeth is that ds's cousin could have a shot at Oxford (given that they ask for 7+A*s) whereas another student would be eliminated because they took their exams in one lump.]

This was also the first cohort not to have had the opportunity to take modules in January and to resit in June.

Back from BP. Didn't see anyone eating pombears. Clarified a lot of things.

Yes, me too. I wanted to know where to sign up, myself! If it were me choosing, and from DS's perspective, I'd definitely choose BP.

But we will be at PS next week!