Changing colleges in year 12

[Collegequery]

My child is unhappy at their current college. Grades have gone from 9s at GCSE to C. No friends and doesn’t like the teachers.
DC has applied to restart year 12 at another college in the hopes that things will improve all round.
Do colleges take students who are already half way through their A levels? I’m worried priority be given to current school leavers and dc won’t get a place. Dc has a college place already so won’t be seen as a priority.
The current college is an outstanding one that’s competitive to get into. The one dc wants to go to is a good college and is where the less academic tend to go.
My concern is that if dc thinks the current teachers are poor when the college is rated outstanding then how will teachers at a rated good college compare?
I’m not sure it’s a good idea.
Has anyone any experience of this please either from a college point of view or a parental one?

Do they want to stick to the same A Levels? Or try something different? What's their long term career goal (if they have one yet!)

Possibly changing one A level but as yet undecided.
Veterinary medicine.

I don't think they will be able to repeat year 12 in a state college/6th form. You might be able to do that if you can afford to go private though.

I think the best bet would be to find another suitable college offering the same A'levels and see if they might accept a student for year 13.

It might be tricky because you might not get an exact match on A'level boards and the teachers may have taught different parts of the syllabus.

It's worth asking though. A grade 9 GCSE student could manage any catch up work.

The best thing would be to talk to the new college and see if they'd recommend a restart or if they could work with a year 13 entry.
Quality of teaching is only a very small part of an ofsted judgement- things like results and management matter a lot. If your current college is very selective they might do better on results but, the new place might be doing a good job with the students they have. You can read the whole report online to drill down to the details.

A YP has three years post 16 – I know a number of people who for one reason or another did not have a successful year 12 and restarted (in year 12) at another setting. It's not at all unusual. Someone in DS2's year picked an A level that they were not doing well at so left after Christmas and restarted (I think in the same school) with different subjects; someone in DD's year didn't enjoy the school (they had done KS4 somewhere else) and switched schools towards the end of their first year 12 to restart year 12 somewhere else.

If VetMed is the aim I am sure you all know how competitive it is. I would advise careful consideration of the next choice setting to be sure the teaching is up to standard. A levels are not easy and it can be a steep learning curve, oddly enough perhaps especially for those who eased past GCSEs with 8s and 9s.

Repeating the year is to try and get the grades up to As. There’s an MDV programme where dc is but not the new college. Grades haven’t been good enough to get on it though. Cs are the average. There’s been a U to a A and everything in between.

I agree with the advice to talk to the new college. That is absolutely the best thing. I would guess that a good explanation about why it hasn’t felt like the right fit, and also an explanation about what steps your son might put in place to mitigate against that happening again. An a-level change is going to be a useful justification. I don’t know if he has social activities outside school but if he doesn’t and you can nudge him towards something then that might help. They should be able to offer him an ‘unconditional’ place if he applies because he has his gcse grades already so you should just crack on an apply ASAP.

I’d be very wary of going up less academic college with no vet med programme.
Id be meeting with current college and find out what’s going on

If grades dropped is that because A levels need lot independant study? Was his school very structured?

Starting Y12 is far more likely than joining at Y13; there would have to be some very perfect alignment to make that work.

I presume you’ve been to the current college to discuss fluctuations in performance? Being generally unhappy will not help - having few friends can take a huge toll on performance. For that reason, trying to move to Y13 elsewhere would be a poor move.

Your DC wants a highly competitive course that requires far more than stellar grades. Perhaps the alternative college may be able to offer support with work experience, additional visits etc?

She needs to speak to both, but certainly apply to plan b now. Most colleges will be doing taster days for new y12 in the next fortnight. Current y11 aren’t given priority as such, but those who have already applied will be.

You need to speak to both with urgency. Don’t leave it until GCSE results day, when plan b will be very busy with new intake.

Best wishes.

Just to present the alternative, my DD moved after year 12 and didn’t repeat a year. She spoke to the new sixth form and together she had a plan to work over the summer to catch up.

She’s just finished and thinks she has done really well.

Your DC needs to go in to the new college and talk to them. And quickly before they all disappear for the summer. C’s in the first year are recoverable.

There is three years of funding available for level 3 so restarting year 12 is an option. However are they really capable of achieving the grades for Vetmed. There is significant additional level of self motivation and studying beyond the teaching time required to secure A/A* and even more so at uni. Would new college be supportive of his aspirations, do they give opportunities beyond teaching which would develop his skill and interests, how many students get places at his preferred uni courses?

Lots of people change 6th form colleges but you have to start y12 again. (My eldest did, along with quite a few people we’ve met). State Ed goes to 19 so, as long as DC wasn’t held back a year at any point, you should be able to start again at another college. However many will have allocated their places for Sept so you need to start calling around in Monday.

Failing that, there is the option of studying at home - on line Alevels with the usual providers or via online schools like Kings Interhigh? If studies at home DC may actually help able to explore a PT job (volunteering or paid) at a vets or animal shelter which would a) provide a very strong case for her vet school application which is very competitive as A grades are not enough to secure offers now and b) allow her to meet like minded people and make friends?