Really stupid question - does somewhere have to offer you a place for a levels

[myladyjane]

dd is planning to apply for 3 or 4 places, doing same subjects at each one. 2 specialist 6th form colleges, 2 6th form colleges attached to schools (her school has just closed its 6th form so we are venturing into the unknown a bit).

one of dds friends is just applying to the one college on the basis that she will get a place based upon her predicted grades and they will have to accept her if that is the only place she’s applied.

both she and dd want to do quite popular a levels so I suspect courses will be over subscribed

i think dds approach is better - entry grades at 2 are higher than the other 2 (think 6 for 2, 7 for the other 2 - she’s on track for 7/8s). This gives herself choices if she has a blip but her friend is adamant that even if she gets below her target grades she’ll be ok as somewhere has to take her.

i dont think it matters but the college is in a different county.

just to make sure I am not giving dd a bum steer, she’s better to apply to multiple places isn’t she. This a level lark is new to me as I just rocked up to 6th form with no thought as did most of my friends/their kids….

No, there's no obligation to provide a place. Our LA provided a tutor for DD for 10 hours a week because she has an EHCP and all the level 2 courses at our local College were full. But if she hadn't had an EHCP they wouldn't have provided anything.

And even if there are spaces, she will need to get the required grades.

Six forms don’t work like regular schools, but as independent institutions. It’s almost more like applying fur university. My dc applied for several six forms, and only got offered places at a few of them.

If the college she's applied to is a large one they will have plenty of other options if she doesn't get onto her chosen subjects, it might mean a year at level 2 though. or different subjects. I've never heard of anyone not getting a 6th form place at all in our county and a lot of places will have spaces freed up by DCs who have made multiple applications and gone elsewhere. My DD only applied for one, she needed 6s and was predicted 7s and 8s, she badly wanted to go that college as opposed to the other local ones.

Much better to apply to lots. Something might go wrong in GCSEs, a grade might be missed but if you have a few options, you definitely have a better chance.
Sixth forms offer based on grades or whatever and it doesn't matter if you apply to one sixth form or ten, you could get any number of offers.
Many people at DC school only apply to that sixth form, so on results day, there is always a scramble for the local college with its range of courses for all abilities.

The friend is crazy. What if something goes 'wrong' with her GCSEs and she doesn't meet the grades?

They don’t have to accept her at all. Each one will have its own admissions criteria. Our local 6th form takes applications directly. They would have no way of knowing they’re the only place you applied to or if you’ve applied at 10 others. Seems like a risky strategy to me but each to their own

No you really need 3 offers. In comprehensive 6th forms they prioritise on other criteria ie distance, children in the pre-16 phase etc. Some of DCs friends didn’t get place on chosen subjects despite having A levels - firm places not given until the day. Good luck

DS has just started 6th form college; his approach was the same as your DD’s @myladyjane. Of his 4 choices:
1- his school 6th form was unable to timetable his choice of A levels. This school has also since cut a subject, due to low (but not no) uptake post GCSE results, causing problems for the students that had chosen it!
2- Another local school 6th form didn’t offer him a place, as they prioritised students from their main school, and then another closer school without a 6th form.
3 - He wasn’t particularly impressed with one of the colleges he applied to, but would have accepted it as a back up.
4 - His preferred choice of college asked for higher grades at GCSE than anywhere else. Fortunately he got the grades!

With this experience in mind, I would advise any Y11 student that it would be very unwise to only apply to 1 institution for post 16 education.

As everyone else has said - no, they don't. They have no obligation, even if she gets the grades (which she night not).
They offer a place, or don't.
Sometimes, they offer a place and then later can't offer the A-level as a member of staff resigns, or because not enough people take up the course for it to be viable.
Usually there is some movement on results day, or when they register after that.
Sometimes, people drop out after a week or two and they potentially could offer a space then.

Seems a high risk strategy to me.

This is massively helpful thank you - dd on the right track. She is going to apply to the 2 6th forms attached to the comprehensives nearby (they used to have one big shared 6th form then split it, 2 others kept going and their school was taken over by a new academy trust and decided not to continue) so I hope she would get a place in one of those - grade dependent of course. The courses in the 6th form colleges are a bit more appealing but the commute to both is lengthy. She is a bit worried about her friend but I’ve said that can’t be her problem other than gently suggest she looks into it a bit more.

really appreciate this - puts my mind at rest that we’re on the right track.

As well as all the comments above, her friend might get accepted into the sixth form but not for the subjects she wants. Depends how they allocate spaces on the more popular / limited courses. So they might say yes you can come and do a levels but they have to be in a b and c, you can’t do x y z.

She is a bit worried about her friend but I’ve said that can’t be her problem other than gently suggest she looks into it a bit more.

I think, if I had knowledge (which your dd now does, from this thread), then I would want to share that with my friends. No, it isn't "her problem" but why wouldn't you want to help your friends ?

Moving to 6th form is so very different from starting Reception or moving to Secondary, where the LA share the information and parents are guided towards what they need to do. My experience when mine were looking at 6th forms, and the experience of 2 different parents I've spoken to this week who tell me it is still the same in our area, is that no-one tells you anything, and there is no central point that you can find out what to do. You are supposed to 'just know'.

You have asked on here, as you weren't 100%, but the friend's Mum might not be on MN and might not know who to ask.

@CarpetKnees she has already told her! But she can’t make her mate listen. Her friend is adamant that her way is the right way and won’t listen to anything dd says. She’s also picked a levels that don’t necessarily ‘go’ or link to what she wants to do at uni (think along the lines of wanting to study geography at uni and doing history physics and music a levels) and dd who is quite focused and has done quite a bit of research into her own subjects is both frustrated and worried about her friend. This was my point- dd can only go so far to help.

I do agree re the lack of guidance though. Open days, application forms etc. one school hasnt updated their website with open day dates but has on Facebook which neither I nor dd uses. It’s only because my friend navigated some of this with her son a couple of years before that she told me.

They don't have to take her and they don't have to take her for the course she wants to do.

However large colleges with spaces on courses will accept applications after GCSE results, so of she has a "blip", she's likely to be able to find something.

If she's pretty sure to get the required grades and to jump into action, make some quick decisions and be flexible in the event things don't go to plan, she's probably fine.
If she wants to give herself some more options, then getting an application or 2 in might be an idea.