Sixth Form College Options

[jennylamb1]

Looking at sixth form college option as DS is starting Y10. Two colleges with good results short-listed, one is an hour commute including a change of train and a 15 minute walk at the other end, the second is a 35-40 minute bus journey, virtually door to door. Is an hour too far? I'm thinking that 2 hours travelling every day is a lot.

It isn't only the length of commute, but also how reliable, how safe when mornings/ evenings are dark and how expensive?

Are there multiple trains or buses? What happens if the train drivers strike again? No college? Can you drive them if necessary?

Two hours is a lot, but I'd look at safety and reliability too.

I would thin about: Are the start and finish times similar? If he has a half day will there be enough trains/buses during off-peak times? Could he study on the train? Could he get a lift with a fellow student ( and contribute to costs)?

What does your DC think? I'd say over an hour is too far, but if it offers something special, your DC may feel it is worth it.

I'd also be wary of shortlisting based on results. Sixth forms are generally all selective, and if it's solely the sixth forms with high entry criteria getting the best results, this doesn't really say much about the teaching, pastoral care etc.

An hour isn't the end of the world but train strikes / signal failures etc are a PITA. One of my DCs has just finished two years at college 45 mins door to door (20 mins walk, 15 mins train, 10 mins walk) and the trains have been so unreliable, however there is also a bus and I work reasonably near the college and can give lifts at the start and end of the day if necessary so she hasn't missed much, she says people miss lectures all the time because of train problems and the college is OK about it but obviously its not ideal especially in exam periods.

I would also agree about doing your homework re the colleges themselves, the reputation of one locally has plummeted in recent years, talk to parents you know with older DCs if you can, go to open evenings, ask about class sizes, pastoral care etc as well as looking carefully at the subject options, vocational vs A levels most will do some of each but often specialise more in one or the other.

Round my way there are a variety of colleges and they pretty much all require an hour commute if using public / college transport. I think most can manage it at 16. For DD's agricultural college some travel in for considerably longer.

I'd factor it in to decision making, but not rule out based on 1hr.

I live in an area where schools don't have 6th forms and both colleges are a good hour commute away by public transport (30-40 mins by car).

Good point about the reliability of the trains. We're going to visit the two short-listed colleges this month to see what he thinks of them. His best friend from school is coming on the visits too, so they could commute together potentially.
I could drive them to a smaller train station which would shorten the commute, however I would then be committed to picking them up on their way home too. It would be ideal if they could get there and back independently.

I guess the other factor is what level of travelling DC is used to currently.

It sounds like you may live rurally (as no sixth form local options) in which case if they are used to long journeys to get anywhere they might consider this "normal" anyway.

Just a word of warning that I wouldn't base any decision on what a friend may or may not do. DC's friends went through several swings from 'College A' to 'College B' at different points in Y11, most of them held several offers and didn't decide until GCSE results; several had the choice made for them when they didn't get the grades they expected.

At the moment he gets a school bus which gets him into school in about 15 minutes. There are sixth forms around us, however they are by comparison much poorer. The one within 15 mins walk only retains 82% of A level students to the end of their study for instance. Average result is a C- compared to B and B- for the others.

What are the entry requirements though?
If sixth form A insists that a student must get at least all 8s and 9s to take A Levels and sixth form B takes them with 5s, then it's not really a huge shock that sixth form A gets better results and doesn't mean that it is better.

(My DC's school sixth form has a C- result. DD and many of her peers have just got very good A Level results. The sixth form also has one of the highest progress scores from GCSE to A Level nationally.)

My ds is an hour's commute away in traffic for 6th form - 90 minutes if he used the bus. It isn't far and it's actually the closer of the two options.