6th form plymouth vs cheltenham

[Teddymom1]

Would you send your kid there for sixth form to Plymouth College sixth form if she wants to do medicine. Their A levels results seems mediocre. DD likes the vibes there n wants to give up her other option ie Cheltenham Ladies college because she also swims - decent enough but no where near Olympics or world class standard

I don't think I'd send a girl of mine to CLC either though.

What are the other options/where else are you thinking? Any other particular strengths or criteria?

If you need to live near Plymouth, Mount Kelly in Tavistock also has an elite swimming programme. It's not wildly academic, but their most able students seem to do okay. Could her wish for a change reflect a preference for a co-ed school?

If your DD is hoping for a place to read medicine I would advise against a "swimming school". The swimmers at Mount Kelly, for example, have to live, sleep and breathe swimming - I don't believe there's much scope for doing it as a fun thing. I'd go for Cheltenham personally.

My sister in law is a doctor and went to Plymouth College. Totally irrelevant

But was your sister-in-law a swimmer confused? My point was that the swimmers at this type of school might not get the time they need to focus on getting top grade A levels.

I'm a medic who went to CLC( also irrelevant) there is a pool there and we could swim before school in 6th form but it was never a big sport there( times may have changed)

If the academics are the most important thing (which for medicine I assume they are) then it would definitely be CLC for me. I would be amazed if they didn’t have good swimming facilities where your DD can train to the level she wants.

You say she is not at international level, but most schools of CLC standard will be able to coach strong students, who will represent the school competitively, quite well.

We recently removed our dc from mk,one of the reasons was the way the swimmers were treated.they do nothing for the school beyond swimming.Music,plays,academics,sports teams are all free of swimmers,most of them sit BTECS and they have very generous scholarships,far more generous than the academic scholarships..
They are such a large %age of the school that they are treated like Gods,very unhealthy for them and the school...

I think Kelly/ Plymouth/ Millfield are great for kids who really want to focus on their swimming and I'm glad those opportunities exist for them- they don't for many sports.

However, I wouldn't send a child who wanted a focus on applying for medicine and to swim 'a bit'. Loads of schools can support some swimming and do much better on the academic side.