Xaverian college A level timetable-half empty

[Xaveriannewbie]

Does anybody have any experience of A level timetables, specifically for Xaverian College? I didn’t do A levels. Dd starts tomorrow and got timetable yesterday. She’s doing Biology, Chemistry and Geography. The timetable looks like Swiss cheese! She doesn’t start until 12.30pm
on a Monday and on other days she’s not got many lessons. Is this normal or is her timetable missing something? She will of course ask more tomorrow but I expected A levels to be full on, not lots of free periods. I’ve advised her to spend those free periods working rather than lying in bed.

Typically A level students have 5 contact hours per subject so probably quite normal. They are though expected to put in the same amount of self study hours.

Exactly. Just because she hasn't a lesson doesn't mean she won't have work to do!

How many hours of each subject does she have a week? In my experience of sixth form, they have 4-5 hours per week of teaching in each subject which does leave a lot of space!

Most college courses would involve a fair bit of outside study. So lessons should make up about half her time-table. The rest would be independent study.

Normal. She'll be fine. Xavarian have plenty of students who secure Oxbridge/Russell group/MVD offers with these kinds of hours. She'll be encouraged to do some enrichment as well.

It's normal.

My timetable was the worst...
Mondays 14:15 - 16:15
Tues and Thurs 8:30 - 10:30 and then 14:15 - 16:15
Weds and Fri 8:30 - 10:30

It used to cost me £8 a day in bus fare for a return ticket. Sometimes just for 2 hours.

You need lots of self study.

Thank you! Luckily she gets a bus pass that gives her free bus travel. She’s not very good at independent study but hopefully will improve. She’s certainly not staying in bed instead of working like she thinks she can do on a Monday. She is aiming for the MDV programme and needs to get her head down.

The timetable isn’t easy to interpret but if I’ve calculated correctly then 16 hrs and 15 minutes of lessons. On a Monday she’s in for an hour and that’s it. An hour! Same on a Thursday. Some of that is an RE session on a Wednesday with it being an RC college. RE sessions were not mentioned at the open day but it’s not an issue seeing as we are RC, just surprised it wasn’t mentioned.

There will be shedloads of work outside the lessons.

at gcse you are expected to do homework that the teacher sets and the teacher monitors it.

at a level the lesson time is about half to a third of the time you are expected to spend studying.

so for example in maths the teacher will cover a topic in two lessons and then assign the end of chapter questions as independent work.

you’ll need to do all the questions, check against the answers and work out what mistakes you have made.

the first few weeks they generally go pretty easy but after that it really ramps up.

When I did A Levels, as well as our three subjects, we had PE/Games, current affairs, optional subjects such as Art (I did art, so can't remember what the others were). STEM students had an essay class, to keep up their written English skills. I and three others opted to do O Level Latin, since we hadn't been in the set which did it lower down the school.

All those filled up quite a bit of the timetable.

Plus free periods to work on essays.

We were required to be in school during school hours, so no lazing around in bed if we didn't have a class first thing!

I did my A Levels at an FE college in the early 1980s - a very different place and time to an RC sixth form college in 2025, but the contact hours were very similar. Three A Levels with six hours a week each, plus an extra class - IIRC it was called liberal studies - to make the hours up to 21 so that it was officially full-time. It doesn't sound like much, but I had to be in college every day. One of my tutors got our class involved in the city-wide sixth form debate club and I organised the rest of my enrichment myself at a local youth club and work experience at a library. It goes without saying that I spent a lot of time on private study or studying with a friend. All told, I had a full week - it was just less structured than it had been at school.

Anywhere that's serious about prepping young people for Oxbridge with its eight week terms and acres of time for private study will have a timetable similar to this.

Managing her own time effectively will be one of her most important skills. I was at a boarding school and very used to being told what to do and when. At college I had to learn a lot of new habits - nobody was going to march me into a dedicated prep room for homework after dinner then supervise me till it was done. I had to crack on with it myself - which is exactly what happens as you go up the academic ladder. Even if she has to spend a lot of time in lab, your DD will still have to do a lot of independent study, on her own and/or with a friend or a group.

My dc had 5 hours of lessons per subject, the college was open 8.30-4.30 so lots of empty slots

My Dd has 4 hours per subject and 2 half hour tutorials per week…

Just seconding what others have said: those free periods are for independent study and homework so they’re only “free” in the sense there is no lesson then. She’ll still be expected to work then at least in most sessions. Also, she will likely be expected to be in school. We were only allowed to leave our 6th form on Wednesday afternoons.

Is she doing anything in addition to the 3 A levels such as an EPQ or core maths? That will also take up some space in the timetable.

What’s an EPQ? She is trying to get work experience that she needs for her veterinary school application next year,
Her first class is 12.30pm today so she’s planning on getting there for around 12 noon. I suggested she go to the library and found out about clubs and whatnot but she got all arsey and asked what clubs I’d done at college. None but I didn’t need to for university. Her attitude so far is not great. I’m hoping to that once she’s been there a few days she’ll get a rocket up her arse about things.

I think college is a prep for Uni, you need to be self motivated to get the work done. I know that many of these high performing colleges move DCs out if they are not performing. They don’t get these brilliant results without sorting out the kids who aren’t working and motivated.

Will she 'need clubs' for university if she is wanting Vet Med?
I would think she needs animal care experience in whatever shape of form she can find it.
Leave her to it, if she wants Vet Med she will need to be organised, let her find her own pattern.

This link explains what an EPQ is. It's basically an extended essay that allows the student to write about a topic of their choosing and can also be seen as a warm up for extended long-form work at university. It's also equivalent to half an A Level, so it's useful and important.

https://www.ucas.com/connect/blogs/what-epq-and-why-should-i-do-one-epq-advice-1

What's the library there like? If she can get into the habit of getting there for 9-10 each day so she can get a start on the self study and she is on campus for the lessons?

@Xaveriannewbie , if you search epq
on the X college website it says they send out the info this term and if you get selected the epq starts next term.
You can also search Religious education and it outlines how it's part of the personal development programme that all further education schools and colleges teach.
It's a really well respected 6th form college and I'm sure there will be an opportunity to meet the tutor etc this term and ask more questions,

My dd goes to a similar college (loreto) some days she only has one lesson but then she also has two full days 9-4. Also, she had to add one enrichment (lunch ones dont count) to meet the hours she must be in. In the last term and start of y13 majority of people got at least one revision session added as well regardless of grades and they were told that they may increase. Also im sure that at xaverian there are absolutely loads of stuff to do as an enrichment. I think the timetables should be quite similar since both colleges operate similarly?

She doesn’t want do an EPQ because she says it’s too much work. She’s not interested in enrichment activities. I can’t control her apparently and with her current attitude I’m leaving her alone.

I was also surprised. 5 hours taught per subject. 10 hours of study periods - if 3 A levels. At DC’s school they are supervised to study.