6th Form or college and why did you choose one over the other ?

[Hollywilloughbyfan1]

Evening all.

Did you choose 6th form or college and why did you choose one option over the other ?

That is why DD stayed at school for 6th form.
She had anxiety and just wasn't ready to deal with new teachers. Also, her chronic fatigue meant that going to the college a 40 minute train ride plus half an hour walk away just wasn't manageable. Plus her bully went to the college and would have been on the same (2 coach) train.

So she wasn't being short sighted at all @Hollywilloughbyfan1

My daughter's school was a longish bus or train journey anyway so she had those skills from Y7, 6th form was smart clothing and she could leave if no classes, also had 2 later starts. Academically it was the right choice for her as the standard of teaching at her school was excellent. Local FE college with the best reputation is Catholic with preferences given to feeder schools etc.
Downsides, smaller group of people she already knew but she's at university now so that really made little difference.

DD was really torn. She had to choose as her secondary only went up to GCSEs in any case. She looked at lots of options, both state and private. She eventually whittled it down to two choices - one, a state school with a sixth form and the other the local FE college.

Pros of the FE college were that it was a 10 min walk from our house, and dd was really attracted to the more adult environment. Cons were that dd didn't really feel that they were catering to very academic students like herself. She was unimpressed with what they emphasised at the open day and didn't feel confident that they would give her much relevant support with the university applications process.

Pros of the school were that it seemed to be targeting students more like dd, with specific help for those aiming for medicine which is what dd wants to do. Cons were that it was a pain to get to and dd was really concerned that it might irritate her to be in a school environment where they were still overly fussy about dress code etc. She didn't want to be treated like a kid any more!

Eventually she chose the school and it has been brilliant for her. We have a lift share to get her there and back and there are buses if needed. Turns out that the environment was much more chilled than she expected, they are treated like adults and the school doesn't really enforce the dress code. The help for university stuff has been excellent. And the unexpected bonus for dd is that the social life has been amazing and far better than what her friends have experienced in the local college - there is a real sense of community in the school sixth form with lots of socialising across all subjects, whereas her friends who went to the college only tend to socialise with people on their courses because they only come and go for their timetabled lessons. And despite doing maths and science herself, dd tends to like socialising with arty, creative types!

DD has also benefitted unexpectedly from being in a school environment with younger kids. She trained as a peer mediator for example, and has really enjoyed helping younger kids to resolve their disputes. She has also enjoyed getting involved with school productions etc, which wouldn't have been an option at the college.

My son is just finishing sixth form. He is the eldest so I didn't know much differently, plus covid meant we didn't attend many open evenings etc. The sixth form is attached to school but non uniform. They still had to attend mon-friday 9-3.30 so hard for a part time job etc and tbh I feel like he was very sheltered. Whereas my DD has opted for college. She needs to sort her bus and timetable and part time job for work experience. I just feel they are very different.

I think this is a really good summary, tbh.

DS (Y13) opted for a local sixth form college over staying at his school sixth form. Mainly because he wanted to swap one of his A levels for a BTEC - the college offered BTECs and the school sixth form didn't.

There have definitely been pros and cons. DS has ADHD and struggles with self-motivation and organisation and I do feel he'd have benefited, academically, from more structure, and the focused formality of his school's sixth form (they are much more 'on top of the students' all the time to hit deadlines and achieve expectations etc, whereas college expect a greater level of independence). We ended up paying for some tutoring to supplement college studies, and there have certainly been times when I've wished he'd stayed on at school.

Then again, despite the ups and downs he has coped well, and the experience of having to rise to that challenge of greater independence will certainly stand him in better stead for university. And with hindsight the BTEC was a really good choice and much better for him long-term than the A level choice he'd originally planned. He had to learn to juggle coursework deadlines alongside exam study, for example. And he now only has 2 A levels to revise for - and knows that (subject to moderation) he's achieved an A* equivalent in the BTEC, which has been great for self-esteem.

As with all these things what works for one student might not work for another but overall I'm pleased DS chose college. Then again, ask me again in August when the results come out

I stayed on at my comprehensive way-back-when as even though it didn’t have the combination of subjects I wanted when I went to visit the college I felt very unsafe on a range of levels. Wasn’t even remotely aware there was an option of going to a different school’s sixth form. Nearly all my friends left school at 16 and started earning and it was a big deal in my family that I didn’t leave at 16.

For DD the college and her grammar sixth form were a world apart academically. She didn’t even go to look at the college. She didn’t need the independence boost (suggested in other posts as a pro of college) as the school already encouraged that and DD had part-time jobs etc. We did look at other sixth forms but she was in a great school and had some great friends and so stayed on. Visiting other sixth forms (one before lockdown, the others online) did however make her feel happier she wasn’t just sticking with the status quo for the sake of it.

IF it was up to me i would scrap 6th form at school and make everyone go to college

I was keen for DC1 to stay on at school 6th form and they did. I thought the continuity would be good for them, teachers and strong friendships - and why waste hours of the day travelling elsewhere when we had a reasonably good school on our doorstep. It was a mistake; friendships changed and they had an unhappy couple of years and hated the school and everything it stood for by the end.
DC2, fed up with strict uniform policies and rules and regs, left to do A-levels at college. It's been a much better experience all round and has really prepared them well for independent learning at university.

My bright son went to 6th Form college rather than staying at his school fo 6th form. Both had very similar academic results. However my son had been at his school since he was four. It was relatively small and they were very much spoon fed academically.

I felt 6th form college was a better bridge between school and uni as they were treated more like adults and had to take more responsibility for their own learning. If you have a child who has to be pushed then they'll just crumble when they get to uni when there's no one behind them to make sure they attend lectures and do homework especially with the freedom uni brings in terms of a social life. Son was keen to spread his wings and I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Having said that covid put a bit of a kybosh on the social aspect of making new friends etc etc but otherwise all good.

They sound like smart kids

Can`t blame him for wanting a change

I stayed for 6th form (girls' grammar school in the 80s). Virtually nobody left at the end of Year 11. I didn't know a single person who went to college. It wouldn't have occurred to me to consider it at the time - I pretty much thought it was only for more vocational subjects, which I wasn't interested in.

My dd is in year 12. She wanted to go to college because she thought she'd prefer the atmosphere and informality, and because some of her friends were going go college. Unfortunately the local colleges didn't offer one of the subjects she wanted to do, so she has stayed at school for 6th form.

Going back a few years but I stayed at sixth form at school. My father taught in a sixth form college and strongly recommended against it owing to the poor standards of teaching and pupil behaviour he witnessed. I suppose that’s always coloured my option a bit. I did love sixth form though and felt very well prepared for uni at the end of it. I guess a lot boils down to how good the individual institutions are. My DH did go to college and loved to social side but regrets how poorly he did at the academic side. My personal preference would be for our DS to stay at school for sixth form but ultimately it will be up to him. If he needs more time to mature before uni then I’d rather he achieved it on his own time in a gap year than during the vital time he’s meant to be studying for his a-levels.

I guess in grammar schools at that time it wasn't the done thing to do from what i understand from the experience of some of my family and relatives.

Don`t you think wanting to keep them in school is abit short sighted ?

We opted for 6th form - it was part of the same secondary but on a different site, different head and no uniform at all. Offered a wide range of subjects including BTECs and had a good reputation. Local college didn't offer the A levels my DDs wanted to do and other 6th forms had estate agent style uniform requirements so that was a hard no.

No I categorically don’t.

I went to college as I couldn't wait to leave school, scraped enough grades to get on an A level secretarial course, started the course & hated it. I couldn't get the hang of shorthand, didn't like the A levels on offer then started skiving off, I managed to miss nearly a month before college phoned my mum who hit the roof. I limped on to the end of the year & was asked to leave. I went back to my school sixth form to do more O levels, typing & office practice, I did under 21 hours which meant I could still sign on for my dole money, managed to get a temp job & left.

I went on to 6th form at the grammar school I attended. Best years of my life!! Had the best time!
my eldest two children are studying at the same school now. My eldest is in sixth form now (about to start year 13). She chose sixth form because the school offered the courses she wanted to do and that are a stepping stone to her university course, the teachers are fab and she has a good relationship with them, and the school achieves the highest grades in the county.
But, what suits one does not suit another.
My son is about to start Year 11 and sit his GCSE’s and he is planning to leave and go to college. Primarily because the school he’s at doesn’t offer any courses he wants to do or that interest him. Knowing my children so well, I predicted this outcome years ago. They are both extremely intelligent and capable of achieving excellent results but my son won’t cope well with sixth form. He is much more suited to a college path.

Both of my DC stayed on for 6th Form (single sex Grammar schools) because they were excellent academically. Plus the schools were close to home and most of their friends were staying on. It is, however, still school.

There is a great 6th Form college that some friends' DC went to. A big plus was that they were treated like students, not pupils. They also have some excellent results re Russell Group / Oxbridge. It was about a 45 minute bus ride away though.

DD is in school 6th Form. It was the right choice for her. She has been unwell for a couple of years, the teachers know and have been able to keep an eye on her. Pastoral care has been great and she has got stronger and more resilient over the first year.

She is very academic, initially wanting to study medicine and was given a lot of extra tutoring and assistance to help with applications etc. ultimately she decided against medicine, instead looking at research science, and again she has been given a lot of help.

She has a max of 10 in each of her a level classes, has 2 ‘free’ half days a week and two ‘personal study’ half days where she can either go in or work online (she chooses to go in).

She did look at 2 colleges. One didn’t offer her subjects at all. The other did, but her anxiety (bought on by her illness) was out of control just in the planning stages at the end of GCSEs. By staying local and with what she knew she could silence those voices. She was also able to join the 6th Form gym, continue with sports and take part in the school led volunteering at which got her out of her box more.

it was the right choice for her, based on her circumstances.

We have quite a limited choice where I live, staying on at school or one big 6th form college that offers everything, so I am not very au fait with the options but intrigued about these colleges which don't offer subjects that people want - are these pretty niche subjects?

Presumably if your DD wants to be a research scientist she is doing at least some of bio / chem / phys / maths so is there a 6th form college near you that doesn't offer any of the standard science subjects? Or were you looking for specific exam boards or something like that?

We chose college over 6th form for the same reason as @Pixiedust1234 . Out daughter struggled in years 10and 11 due to the bitchyness and bullying .
She enjoyed the grown up aspect of being responsible for herself ,it was totally different to school she was treated as an adult at all times and the pastoral care at college was better any issues were dealt with rather than being brushed under the carpet like school did .

@stoneysongs
The closest college isn’t 6th form, it does maths and English GCSE retakes, but otherwise BTecs, diplomas etc. Lots of DDs school friends went there and are doing ok as far as she knows.

DD is doing Maths, Biology and Chemistry. She could have gone to another school 6th Form (2 in the area) or a college 10 miles away to do them, but it was better for her to stay at her school 6th.

Ah that makes sense, thank you, I misread the OP and thought we were comparing school 6th form to 6th form college. If comparing two settings which offer completely different academic paths I imagine it usually makes the decision a lot easier!