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 would say meeting new people and experiencing new things is good as it opens up your world and at 16 you can`t mollycoddle them.

For some yes, for others, no.

Having their world opened up to all new, exciting things might be absolutely fantastic for them (trust me that doesn't always follow). It was not fantastic for their results.

You were asking why kids went to sixth form rather than college. I'm explaining why my FE college stopped doing A levels - because they couldn't compete results wise. Your keep saying how great it is for children to have these experiences didn't persuade parents to risk their children's results.

@Summersunshinee

College offers a more diverse range of subjects and some do offer A levels.
But as many said in this thread previously and you obviously didnt bother to read, in some areas like mine The 6th forms offer A levels and the odd btec and local college only offers btecs and now some t levels.
My DS couldnt take maths and physics A levels in the local college and my dd couldn't do Health and Social Care in any of the 6th forms.
If you want to do travel and tourism btec , they have an airplane onsite and a cafe for their hospitality students , so excellent facilities but they dont teach A levels .the students who want to study A levels go to 6th form. There are a lot of choices of 6th forms in our and if they want a change it is quite easy to move schools. Non of our local 6th forms have uniforms

Some of the students go to the college in the next county which does offer A levels, but in that area very few of the schools have 6th forms!

God those facilities sound excellent.

Why wouldn't you want to learn in an environment like that ? instead of staying in a boring stuffy school surrounding ?

"I guess the sixth form just kept them on track better than the college could."

I think this is a common assumption and I know a lot of parents think this where I am, but are often surprised to find out how much more they can track students at college.

So at the last two sixth forms I worked at, the parents knew if their child had missed a day off school, they had their two / three reports a year and one parents evening.

In contrast at the college I now work at, parents can know if students miss a single lesson (automatic notification as every lesson is registered individually), they can also look on the students record to see their grades, their reports (x 4 a year) and two parents evenings. So in fact, parents know more about their child than they do at either of the schools I used to work at or at the local school.

However, the info you get does vary in each individual school / college

"I guess the sixth form just kept them on track better than the college could."

I think this is a common assumption and I know a lot of parents think this where I am, but are often surprised to find out how much more they can track students at college.

Sorry, I meant that the sixth form kept them on track with their studies better. Not that they could track them better. The FE college entered attendances directly into the computer in class as well as keeping a paper register in case they couldn't access the system. Parents were kept well updated.

Because some like my DS actually enjoy maths and physics and loved talking to his teachers about the subjects, he didnt find 6th form stuffy. That college wouldnt have suited him at all.

That`s a shame sounds like he missed out.

It's horses for courses, surely - if both offer the qualifications that a DC wants to do.

DS stayed at school for sixth form (uniform and all) because he liked it, all his friends were staying, it was 10 mins walk away, familiarity was important to him, especially starting Y12 in Sept 2020, full-on covid times.

DD chose the local sixth form college because she had had enough of seeing the same old people all the time, didn't want to do Welsh Bacc, wanted the independence of being a train ride away, access to a city, wanted to wear her own clothes, wear jewellery if she wanted and be treated more like a grown up. She was so fed up with petty rules and being treated like a Y7.

Different choices but both were right imo. The teaching is the same standard as far as I can tell but DD has definitely become more independent than DS was at her age.

Your daughter sounds like a very streetwise and independent person, I like that.

I think she will go far.

Are you trolling , or just not very bright. He didnt miss out on anything, he had opportunities in 6th form he wouldnt have had in the college . He won an Arkwright scholarship for 6th form which was a small monetary value for him and his school but also gave him some great experiences.

Neither of those thank you, There is no need to get insulting.

Congratulations for your Son`s achievements you must be very proud.

That college setting just sounds more appealing in my eyes is all.

There's a difference between a sixth form college and an FE college.
Lots of schools are closing their sixth form because for the smaller cohort of students, they can't offer as wide a range of subjects as they can in colleges. The funding simply doesn't work.

@Summersunshinee no offense but you seem slightly obsessed about this.
Why are you so concerned about what other people did/do with their education.
Some people go to 6th Form.
Some to college.
Some do an apprenticeship.
Some go straight into work.
Does it matter?

You just don't seem to understand that everyone is different and what might appeal to and suit you is very different to what is right for someone else.
Why make the assumption that my DS missed out because he stayed in his 6th form?

I do understand that people have different needs and work better in different environments.

I just think its beneficial to move on and try something different every so often and post GCSEs offers this chance.

I`m just interested in why people choose different options.

*Your daughter sounds like a very streetwise and independent person, I like that.

I think she will go far.*

Haha thank you, she has her moments. She is more independent than DS was at that age but he is at university now, which is a whole other ball game. (Also it's probably a bit unfair to compare them as he was Y12 in 2020/21, most of which everyone spent at home, so he and his peers missed out on a lot of growing up experiences.) I don't think the choice of school or college for sixth form will make any difference to how far either of them go.

Yeah I feel sorry for the kids who had to study remotely for about 2 years due to covid.

@Summersunshinee people choose different options because they want different things.
If a person wants to be a lawyer it makes sense to do academic A-Levels at 6th Form and then go to university.
If a person wants to be a plumber it makes sense to go to college and do a plumber qualification or do an apprenticeship.
Surely it's not about 6th Form vs College and a "different experience" - it's about what you want to do with your life and possible job/career.

So you can`t study law at college ?

Admittedly yes you can`t do a gcse in plumbing so i accept your argument.

"I don't think the choice of school or college for sixth form will make any difference to how far either of them go."

There is some research that students who go to specialist sixth form colleges (not general FE colleges) get better results than those at schools, and also are more likely to get a first or 2i in their degree.

One theory is that it is to do with the fact that colleges tend to promote independent learning and spoon fed less.

There are a few studies out there, but here's one on results.

www.southampton.ac.uk/news/2012/08/colleges-achieve-better-results.page

@Summersunshinee yes some colleges will offer A-Level Law. It does vary. That was just a random career I thought of. But why are you so obsessed about why people choose 6th Form or College? You could ask why some people choose to wear blue t-shirts and some people choose red. Everyone is different. That's simply it - people want different things in life.
You don't do plumbing at GCSE level. It's a 16+ qualification.
That's why you would go to college because that's where the courses will be.
(What's with the weird font changing in your posts?)

I would think A level law would be fairly common at college. I did business which included some law.

I know you can`t do plumbing at gcse level that was me just been silly. But if i were in charge of education in this country i would offer practical skills such as that from 14.