MPW / Collingham / Bales College / David Game for 6th form - opinions, advice please

[takeitupalevel]

Hi, I'm hoping to get some advice/opinions on London colleges for A levels starting Sept '23.
DS earned a bunch of 5s and 6s (and a couple of 4s) for his GCSEs - he'll need to resit English Language (one of the 4s) as he thinks he'd like to go to uni in the future.
We live in London and he hasn't made the grade requirements for 6th form at any of the state schools in our area. He had received conditional offers based on his (significantly higher) predicted grades. We went to try and enrol at few on Thursday after picking up the results. We also went to Westminster College to look into B-Techs, but the size of the building, the length of the queues of kids registering (snaking out of the door), the noise and chaos really affected DS who normally hides his anxieties well, is very dyslexic and has some mental health issues. He would also need to work through his English resit on his own.

Fortunately we can just about make it work financially to send him to a non-selective sixth form college - basically a crammer. We've been to visit MPW and they seem lovely and he's quite determined he'd like to go there. He loves the idea of only 4 or 5 people in each class, and the focused attention to help him learn how to become an independent learner (that sounds contradictory but for him it would work, he was really let down by SEN provision at secondary). They also have a programme for resitting GCSEs, so would hopefully improve in English.
I've also considered Collingham - it's a bit cheaper per term which would make life a bit easier for the next couple of years.
I also found Bales College in an internet search, but can't find out much about it - seems REALLY small.
And also I've recently heard about David Game College in the city.

Does anyone have experience of any of these schools? Or know of any other non-selective 6th form schools in London?
Thanks

Hi, yes I have recent experience of a couple of these.

DC did GCSEs at Collingham - we found it to be a really kind and nurturing place, structured but not pressured. Didn't stay on for A level as they didn't offer one of the subjects wanted, but know kids who stayed and liked it.

Also looked into MPW and was very impressed - by the headteacher and other staff. Not so much a crammer these days but still has a bit of an 'exam factory' vibe imo But it's big, takes a wide variety of kids and offers loads of subjects.
(as an aside, another of my DC did a maths GCSE revision course there and it gave them a huge boost in confidence and without doubt an uplift in their grade. We were impressed)

DC did A levels at Ashbourne College which you may not know. Great experience here, got really good results and the teaching was excellent
Well worth a look

Sorry, can't help on the others you mention, but best of luck to you and DS!

Thanks for the reply @user1469651871 much appreciated.
We're going to visit Collingham in an hour or so, so very timely. DS has his heart set on MPW, and they offer exactly the subjects he's interested in.
Collingham is the one that I like best (not just for financial aspect), but he would have to compromise slightly in one of the courses.
We're also going to see David Game this afternoon. I've managed to find out a bit more and I think it's an older, more international student body, and so I feel he may miss out a bit on forming group of friends who are local. I guess that's true of MPW and Collingham too though.
Ashbourne doesn't offer one of the subjects DS really wants to study, so that counted it out of our reckoning.

Hi there. I have just visited Bales College with my DS, who is looking to transfer into Year 13 after a difficult year in the school he has just been in for Year 12. We met with the Admissions Director, who seemed lovely - thoughtful and interested in trying to understand my son's difficulties, and relaxed about exploring different options and not desperate to focus on results and "good" universities etc. But it is tiny, and there is building work going on at the moment... and the fees seem to be half that of the other places, which I didn't want to ask him about in front of my son, but will do in a follow up conversation!

We have also visited MPW, who are clearly impressive and definitely slicker, but my son wasn't so keen on it somehow. But hadn't heard of Collingham or Ashbourne - so I am going to explore tomorrow thanks to this thread! I would be interested to hear why you preferred it to MPW....

Good luck with it all, and do let us know where you get to

Thanks for the insight about Bales @suzyj1970. I had mostly counted it out. We went to see Collingham yesterday - they are really nice. Had an interview with the head, tour of school and met a few of the teachers for the subjects DS is interested in. Very caring, whole-child education approach. Good discussion about which subjects and why.
It is smaller and less polished than MPW but in a reassuring way. It's my preference over MPW now, and not just because it's about £6k cheaper per year. DS however prefers MPW - and MPW offers exactly the subjects he wants whereas Collingham he'd have to tweak one of the the subjects a bit.
Also went to see David Game, and immediately new it isn't the right place. Much bigger, more institutional feel, people were lovely and they have a better set up with auditoriums and proper canteen area etc, but didn't compare for us with the other two. Also nothing that makes it worth the extra time and expense of travelling into the city each day.
Good luck to you too!

Hi did your DS start Bales and if yes can you tell me a bit about the school. Mine is in year 5 and I am going mental looking at schools that suit him. Thank you

Any updates on whether Collingham or MPW better ?

@takeitupalevel

Can i ask how things turned out for you? Looking at Collingham and MPW currently and trying to decide.

@suzyj1970 suzyj1970

It would be great to hear from you too and how things went?

DS ended up at MPW and he loved it. I think Collingham would have been better from a "whole school" experience - feels smaller and more like a community, whereas MPW is big with lots of international students and boarders. (current head at MPW was head at Collingham up until a couple years ago) DS didn't make any great friendships with local kids, but enjoyed it and did ok. Was happy to go each day and even more happy that he only needed to be there for his lessons and meetings with Director of Studies etc - could skip all the other full time school day things. DS largest class size was 6 kids which was good for him, as nowhere to hide, he had to be present and contributing in class. Staff were amazing with him, really supportive, but also gave a good push/reset when needed. And we'll find out if all worth it in a couple weeks on results day!

@takeitupalevel thanks so much for the reply! That's just the information I needed. We're looking at both MPW and Collingham and your info is so helpful. Lovely to hear your DS enjoyed his time there and it was a good fit for this phase for him. Not having to go in for anything but lessons would a very positive for us too and would take the pressure off.

I did have a quick look at the fees again on the basis of your original post and saw just how pricey they both are now! And that's without the VAT. it's going to be a lot to swallow but really hope it will be worth it. We're looking at Year 9 so Collingham might be a better fit at the start and possible transfer to MPW for A-Levels. We'll have to see. He also has SEN and needs a quieter place as currently overwhelmed where he is.

All the best for your DS for his results. I have my fingers crossed for you both!🍀