Sixth form grade requirements

[User17363726]

My child wants to go to a sixth form that requires them to get 6 grade sixes in their GCSE's to be allowed into the sixth form. What happens if they get below the grade boundaries by a grade or 2? Will they still be let in with having to retake 1 or will they be straight up rejected

Rather depends on cohort. If many didn't make grade the they may get in. Sadly they can, and do, straight up refuse those that don't make the grade. My girl had this last year as her MH meant she rarely attended. All colleges refused her. She got a place at a nova training place. But it's terrible and only till they pass maths and English. Literally nothing else despite them meant to be in editor training till 18.

Depends entirely on that 6th form. 6 grade 6s is an unusually high requirement as far as I've experienced with 2 having or now doing Alevels so I'd say they're probably not bothered about having fewer students and have chosen to be very selective instead. If that's the case they are unlikely to just let in regardless.
You can apply to as many 6th form as you want so I would suggest finding one with lower requirements as a backup option if there is any chance of not meeting them.

No one can really say apart from the school - so I would ask them.

My DC's school asked for a 6 in A-level choices and a friend of DS2's got a 5 in one he chose; he was advised to choose something else he did better in, but stuck to wanting to do this subject and they allowed him to take it. So there can be flexibility.

These sort of grade requirements are set discretely by the school tho - so any flexing is obviously possible (as in, 6 x grade 6 is not any kind of national or legal requirement to sit A-levels) but they may not want or need to. Is it a very over-subscribed sixth form, do you know? Is DS likely not to get what is needed? A-levels are a big step up so 6s in chosen subjects are a good idea imho. 7s in some subjects tbh.

they will be rejected

You can't know that tho. My example of "you must have a 6... oh OK you can take xx subject with a 5" shows that flex happens.

(That said, the student who got the 5 regretted taking that subject and found it tough).

I agree that 6 x 6 is a high requirement. If a student gained 7s in chosen A-levels and 5s in maths and English, then grades of (say) 777655544 would be fine IMHO.

But if your lad is looking at (say) 665554444 then it might be an idea to find an alternative to have in hand.

it is not a particularly high requirement, but you are right, there is sometimes some flex, if a student gets the grades needed for each individual A level , but not the grades neededfor the sixth form overall

I think it will depend on how many applicants they get with the required standard. They may reduce the requirement if they are short of pupils.

The requirement is quite low, at my daughters school last year it was 56 or 58 points across the 8 best subjects.

Is that a selective school at all? 58 points in 8 subjects would be six 7s and two 8s. That seems high to me. More and more students only take 8 subjects now so that leaves no room for a poor grade at all, even in a non-core subject the student does not intend to pursue.

The school was undersubscribed last year as many students left so I'm guessing they do want as many people as possible, so let's set my child gets a 7,7,6,6,6,5,5,5 which means they have 5 of the sixes they need will that possibly be enough?

You talk about retaking. The only GCSEs that are generally retaken are maths and English and that's if you don't get a 4. There won't be arrangements to retake any other GCSEs in sixth form.

If they are undersubscribed and need bums on seats, they could make allowances.

In some sixth forms with 'points' admissions policies, English Lang and Maths actually count double. So there is one near me that has a minimum of 58 and then is higher if students want to do maths, much higher if they want to do sciences, and higher still for four A-levels. They also have specific minimum requirements in particular subjects. So it might be that it's not as high as it sounds!

The pp didn't say anything about points doubling though. Tbh while ofc I see that a spread of good grades means an able student who has worked hard for GCSEs, a spikier profile doesn't necessarily mean the opposite. A lot of DS2's peers had to take MFL (inc him haha) but some hated it and were not enthused, got a 2 or a 3 among a bunch of 5s, 6s and 7s. They made perfectly good A-level candidates (not for Spanish obvs) but probs didn't have 58 points.

It's interesting the range of offers. I am guessing settings demanding the higher grades have more students applying than they have space for so they have to whittle down in some way. Plenty of schools specify only a pass in M and E and 6 in chosen subjects tho. You could get in at my DCs' school with (for example) 66655444. Not saying you would have amazing A-level outcomes but that's not the only important thing IMO. I guess some sixth forms want to be able to say "97% of our students got A grades or above".

oh yes, I agree; I was just pointing out that to a casual observer who hasn't read the policy in detail, 58 sounds incredibly high, but once you realise there are doubles in there, it's not as bad. I've known year 11s assume they'll never get in somewhere because they've not realised it, and just heard people talking about the points totals.

This particular sixth form isn't competitive though (and therefore claims not to be 'selective', although I might argue that!). Once you meet the minimum requirements, then oversubscription decisions are based on distance and various other things.

Most likely rejected although it will probably depend if there are still spaces after those meeting entry requirements are admitted. There may also be minimum subject grades to take it at A level/level 3. You don't get to resit a pass (grade 4 or above) unless privately.

It’s always useful to consider alternatives if there’s doubt about achieving the grades. Some people thrive in a college environment, taking a different course.

It depends on the establishment but I don't think it is a given either way.

My DC both went to the more academic of our local state sixth form colleges.
It is OFSTED outstanding and generally appears reasonably highly in various league tables.

The current admission score (Maths & 1 English being double counted) criteria is;

• Basic - 58
• Maths - 60
• STEM - 71
• 4 Inc FM - 78

With additional specific grade requirements in the subjects you want to take.

My ds (2 years ago) didn't quite meet the STEM criteria because his German and another subject pulled his score down, but his grades in the subjects he wanted to take exceeded the specific requirements. He was still offered a place.

Their website says...Should you apply if your score is slightly below the threshold for the A level subjects you would like to study?Yes! As our current Admissions Scores are based on application patterns for entry in 2023, they might change. We therefore recommend you make an application if you are within 2-3 points below the published Admissions Score.

It depends on the setting and also on the actual grades achieved. If, for example, your son gets a mix of 6s and 7s for five subjects but gets a 4 or 5 in the sixth, the setting might consider it. If he gets 6,6,6,6,4,4 though then they probably won’t. There’s a huge difference between a 6 and a 4. If he misses the grades in the subjects he wants to do then almost certainly not.