Why is 6th form thought of more highly than attending FE college ?

[Summersunshinee]

I can never understand why if you say that you attend 6th form at school you are thought of more so than if you attended FE college.

I would feel that if anything it would be more impressive to attend FE college as you made the decision to go somewhere else and try something different /

I am looking for my daughter at the moment. Round here the sixth forms are for a levels and the colleges are predominantly vocational courses.

The colleges by me just don't offer many (if any) a levels.

Only on Mumsnet world does anyone apparently think "less" of college vs school.
In the actual real world I have never met anyone who thinks like that.

are they? Round here we have colleges purely for a levels, some mixed a levels and other level 2 or 3 courses, some just vocational courses.

I’m sure we had this thread the other way round not so long ago.

they aren’t. A’levels are a’levels, BTEC are btecs, etc

where you do them is irrelevant

My area has pretty much switched to school to 16, then the colleges.

The local college sent 8 pupils to Oxbridge last year. It caters to both vocational and academic courses. And with having more students, it can offer more courses... so the subjects that struggle for numbers have full classes like Physics and Music.

In other areas where school to 18 is more common it might be perceived differently.

Who's thinking that way? Do you? The college where I attended was very highly regarded by everyone.

Here we go again.

for what it’s worth whee I live most schools stop after year 11 so you have no choice but to go to a stand-alone college.

Sounds like you’ve got a chip on your shoulder more than other people

Also, the Yr11 at DDs 11-16 school get a lot more responsibility... house captains, team captains etc. They have their own common room too, which apparently they love!

Sorry but I disagree with this. I'm almost 38, and when I started college almost 29 years ago to do a BTEC it definitely wasn't thought of as being as clever as staying at our schools sixth form college. Not private.

That’s the btecs, not the college.

when I was at school around the same time btecs weren’t highly regarded, and it was usually an either/or thing.

so going to a college that did btecs was not thought of as well as going somewhere that did a’levels.

@Lastnamedidntstick my college did alevels too, most in my class took at least one aside BTEC

Not this again!

The college here gets better results for A-level than any local sixth forms.

They have many campuses though and do have a dedicated A-level campus but many more mixed campuses offering vocational courses and even degrees. It covers entire area - one DN will go to in different bit of UK is similar - big area with smaller campuses sometimes focusing on different courses.

DH did college I did sixth form and we both think college is preparation for life beyond A-levels but it will probably depend on what avalialbe locally to how it's perceived.

@Lastnamedidntstick where are you? I'm Hampshire. I'm genuinely interested as we are the same age with such different colleges!

My children’s secondary doesn’t have a 6th form. My son is at 6th form college which does A levels. The other local ish college does vocational course. It just depends on what they want to study. Anyone that judges kids in any sort of education is a twat. The world and people in it needs all sorts of skills to work well.

Sorry to derail, but it is a relevant derail iykwim.

What's the problem with BTECs? Why do people look down on them? Is it because they're not 'A' levels and vocational, so quite a good idea for kids who know what they're good at and what they want to do.

I`m not saying this view is right.

Far from it. Also as people say to judge on this alone is wrong.

How did this perception i suppose you can say come about ?

That’s not true. I have worked in schools and colleges, and come across this attitude constantly. Students pick it up from their parents and from secondary school teachers who spew off all kinds of rubbish.

Round here (West Yorkshire / East Lancashire) colleges are very highly regarded.

What's the problem with BTECs?

I think England trying to phase them out to T-levels - which is one issue. Don't think wales is going the same way.

How did this perception i suppose you can say come about ?

Local results, opportunities available at each, intake - I assume.

Here if I was willing to send DC to the sixth form they could walk to the school but due to very limited options they'd have to get free buses to other schools to get a decent selection of A-levels.

It costs me £50+ a month for bus to get from here to college - or parents driving. So cost is a real barrier for some kids to go anywhere but local sixth form.

However it avoids our getting lost between schools and their poor communication and missing lesson cause school buses don't turn up in time - something that has happened to DD1 friends who stopped. So I do view school as an infer option because of the local situation.

@cpphelp I'm older than you and in my day (late 80s/early 90s) you either left school, stayed on at school (6th Form) or went to 'The Tech' (although they had actually dropped the 'Technical' from the name by then).
I don't know anyone (adults or peers) who gave much thought to which one someone did.
Well except for some of the older generation who sometimes said things like "What are you faffing about at school/college for - why don't you just get a job?" 🤣

Exactly!!

Students pick it up from their parents and from secondary school teachers who spew off all kinds of rubbish.

Some staff at the school have tried tell my DC that a-level at college aren't as good as one at sixth form - aren't the same level held in the same regard - despite them both having the same exam board and college getting higher grades most years for more students.

they've also massively inflated the cost of bus travel to the nearby campuses - already pricy but not as bad as they have tried claiming.

Actually I agree with the OP that this is still definitely in the thinking of a lot of people. It certainly was when I was doing my A levels 40 years ago but remains so today.

It's down to a middle-class perception that the "better" schools and private schools who have sixth forms are just somehow better places for academic preparation for further education whereas sixth form colleges with their wider variety of vocational courses are seen as somehow not as well-geared for this.

Having said that I believe it is nonsense. There are excellent sixth form colleges and not so good school sixth forms and vice -versa. Three of our four children went to a sixth form college and the fourth did her A levels at her school sixth form. All four achieved good results, had a good educational and social experiences and got to where they wanted to go.