Is it true that clever people go to 6th form and people who aren't go to college

[thistimeiknowitsforreal]

Evening all,

It was always drummed into me that after GCSE`s that if you are intelligent you went to or stayed at school and went to 6th form depending on your previous circumstances.

But if you weren't good enough you went to college instead.

Whats your experience in this area ?

In that case then why don`t more say middle class parents encourage their kids to do something practical ?

some of us do.

Tell me more !!! i`m on edge ?

My daughter who is highly academic did do A levels but only two as she also studied a theatre diploma. My son is being encouraged to follow his passions with music technology. They both started off at academically selective private school but we moved them when it became clear that approach to education was not the best one for them. My brother is encouraging his very practically minded son towards a trade apprentiship rather than staying on at 6th form and his daughter who is academic but suffers anxiety was encouraged to do a mix of a level and btec subjects to suit her strengths and weaknesses.

Daughter got A* A in her two A levels so she is highly capable.

Not all schools have 6th forms. Sounds nonsense to me

Yes I think that's true here

In my experience academic students with good memory recall go to 6th form because that is how they are assessed.

Plenty of non academic but clever students go to college.

How so ?

Really ? tell me more

Why not go out of their comfort zone ?

Exeter has no state schools with sixth forms so it’s the college (rated outstanding by ofsted）or pay to attend a selective independent.

Whereas someone who studied cooking or hair at college not looked at being smart ?

Because the students who go down those routes are usually the ones who don't do so well at academic school work. That obviously doesn't mean that no bright kids ever choose those career paths, but it's certainly not the norm.

Why not they are both skilled careers ?

There's a difference between skilled and academically difficult.
Academically minded people often (not always) want a career that challenges their brain.

I could in theory have done hair & beauty (though as I have no interest in either I wouldn't have been very good long term), most hair & beauty BTEC students couldn't have done my degree (maths).

Though that of course is discussing A levels v vocational BTECs.
You asked 6th form v college, which is the same question in some areas, but irrelevant in all-college areas such as Hants as discussed earlier.

And before anyone jumps on me, some BTECs are clearly more academically challenging than others. But all BTECs are challenging in their own way and to get Distinction* you have to have a number of analytical skills and work hard solidly through the course.

That`s abit of a snobbish attitude isn't it ?

Very true they are difficult they don`t just hand them out

No, it's true.
Look at the academic qualifications needed to do Maths, FM and Physics at A level, v. the qualifications required to enter most L3 Extended Diploma BTECs.

I am sure that to do well at Hair & Beauty you need many skills but ability to do high level maths isn't one of them.

I have absolutely nothing against BTECs nor colleges. But to try to pretend that all courses are suitable for all flies in the face of their entry requirements. Some courses should only be attempted by more academic kids. Just like some courses should only be attempted by more sporty kids, or those with good fine motor skills, or those with good people or caring skills. However in fact the courses in my latter sentence tend not to check those skills as a prerequisite for entry, relying instead on the student to select something suitable.

An academic sporty kid who is kind and caring and has good motor skills and good people skills could do any course that took their fancy. They shouldn't be pushed into doing A levels if they don't want to.
A less academic kid may be better served by an L3 Extended Diploma and coming out with say MMM rather than attempting A levels and coming out with DEE.

Why can`t not so academic kids have a go at academic subjects ? Bit short sighted ?

When I was at sixth form my sixth form only required 5 C’s which you don’t exactly have to be clever to get

I was told by my sixth form that I shouldn’t study an A Level subject unless I got a B at GCSE in that subject. I think that’s good advice as I managed to persuade them to let me do a subject that I got a C in at GCSE and although I passed, it wasn’t a very high pass compared to my other two.

DH got mostly Cs at GCSEs, a few Bs. He is very intelligent but not so good at exams. He didn’t get good enough grades to get into his school’s sixth form but was convinced by his parents to do A Levels at the local college when he really should have done something more vocational/coursework based. He failed all his A Levels.

He’s done well in life though and despite the fact I passed all my A Levels, he is way more intelligent than me!

What vocational route should he have taken ?

@thistimeiknowitsforreal he loves the outdoors and hates being stuck at a computer (which is what he’s ended up doing and made his peace with now) but he says if he had his time again he’d have done something that could have led him to a career maybe in Estate management or tree surgery. Unfortunately his parents had the attitude that unless you did A Levels you weren’t going to amount to much, which I would hope is an outdated attitude…