Move from Wimbledon high school to 6th form college

[Lotty32]

My DD has recently decided she wants to leave her v high achieving school where she is doing super well to go co-Ed to a six form college but as she is in year 11 has missed the official boat.

So any suggestions for top sixth form colleges in London ideally SW. I am judgemental and assume they are for dropouts etc but am sure that is not the case.

DD says she is v unhappy (most of her friends are leaving) but equally she is bad at change so we are super unkeen to move her! We will go and look round a few 6th form colleges but would love some recommendations thx

What is a 16 year old dropout? I think you need to drop the judgement and realise top 6th form colleges will be oversubscribed by such 'dropouts' and so it's unlikely at this stage you would meet the closing date and gain a place.

Open evenings are usually in September/ October time.

OP I think you've missed the boat. All the Sixth Form deadlines have long gone, particularly any ones you might consider 'top'. DD is moving this September and has already been to subject choice evenings at her new school.

Your state options would have been Esher College (very good), Tiffin Boys (Co-Ed for 6 Form) and maybe Harris Westminster. The private options like Westminster, KCS and KGS are now full and will have gone to their waiting lists. Emanuel might have spaces. You could phone round but I think you're best staying put.

BTW the Sixth Form colleges are definitely not for 'drop outs' - whatever fave you that idea? Esher is very sought after!

Wow your judgement is so typical of a Wimbledon High parent. No 16 year old is 'drop out' just not everyone can pay for high grades like WH.

If you DD isn't happy there then she should move to where ever she wants. If she's truly dedicated and smart then she can achieve the grades no matter the sixth form.

John Ruskin College in Croydon is still accepting applications and has an open evening next month. I have no idea whether it fits anyone's idea of a top college, but it is there.
www.johnruskin.ac.uk/event/open-day-0220/

Ignore the deadlines, they are really only important to very sought after schools like Westminster, kings, SPGS, Latymer etc. Other than the very top schools most have no idea of the final numbers for their 6th form until September. As a WHS girl your DD will have very strong GCSE results and will be an asset to any 6th form. So if she wants a co-ed phone KGS, Reeds, Ibstock, Emmanuel etc but if she wants to stay all girls then Surbiton or Putney and explain the situation. Last year one of DDs friends was offered an academic scholarship at Putney for predicted grades that were average for girls already at the school which surprised me. For 6th form colleges Ashbourne is the fashion at the moment.
I went through this with DD last year and looked all around everywhere at 6th forms. My favourite options were boarding and the outright winner easily Hurtwood House. DD said "nah". literally just "nah", I was gutted. I spent a lot of time on this and in the end DD stayed put which is exactly the right decision for her and was what I said when she first suggested moving. I just say this as a warning because I was very invested in Hurtwood.

Sorry and I meant to say that MPW is still the favourite college for resits. Quite a few of DS1's friends went there and did very well second time around.

A lot of fe colleges will enrol after results day but whether they will offer her subject choices may be an issue.

What proportion of Year 11 stay on at WHS?
We may need to move to London coinciding with dd starting sixth form and we were considering an 'intra GDST' transfer, but I'd be interested to know the churn rate?

cakeisnaway is talking utter tosh re state sixth forms at least. Places like Esher are fully subscribed and have a waiting list of candidates who applied on time.

Many fee paying options will of course take your money at any time.

I think the OP means the type of sixth forms that used to called crammers, rather than these sixth forms attached to schools or the state colleges. I don't know what they call them now but there are a few around I believe.

Thisissharon - But I'm only talking about fee paying schools because they are what OP has expressed a preference for, hence my list of Indy schools and colleges. I don't see any point in suggesting state options because if a highly regarded school like Lady Margaret hasn't impressed OP then it is likely that nowhere will.

Of course state schools have fixed deadlines and rules but it's a lot more flexible with fee paying schools because they lose a lot of pupils at 6th form and are looking to fill the spaces with the best possible applicants. It's a completely different scenario to state schools.

What the OP has conveyed as far as I can see is that she isn't exactly ecstatic about her DD leaving WHS, but We will go and look round a few 6th form colleges. 6th form colleges, which is what she says her DD wants - whether populated by the rich-kid or the state school variety of dropout - not 6th forms at other schools?

Wrong thread. I am replying to a completely different OP with a very similar thread running elsewhere on mixed 6th forms hence my mentioning Lady Margaret as it was specifically mentioned which is why my post doesn't make sense on this thread.

Wrong thread
Well, it made slightly more sense than the reply I managed to post once on another forum on a completely different subject from that of the thread I had managed to jump to without noticing (memo to self, think twice before engaging in idle chat on the internet whilst train is negotiating points).

Many thx for all advice esp the non judgemental ones!! Sorry if I was unclear I know she's missed the boat for sixth forms in schools I am looking for advice on sixth form colleges like Ashbourne! Can't see the point in moving for 5 terms but will investigate!

My son moved to a sixth form college from a state school. It was an absolutely great decision academically and socially.
If I was judgemental, apologies but dropout as a term felt very harsh for a large group of young people.
As a parent, if my 16 year old wanted to that would be the most important factor. It really would be. My son wanted to and we encouraged him all the way because that is what he wanted. His choice as an informed 16 year old.
But yes sixth form colleges have tight deadlines and usually have closing dates in Autumn term.

@Lotty32 Do you know what proportion of the girls leave at 6th form at WHS?

My older dd moved for sixth form and it was great as they were all 'new' together at her sixth form college. She did move for a very specific set of subjects though, which made it worthwhile.

This move would be more as a result of a job moving, but I'm a bit more worried about moving into an established sixth form as there might not be as many new starters.

I know the WHS numbers because I used them to make a point on the other thread about there being more spaces at 6th form than people might think. Last year WHS had 90 sitting GCSE but only 55 sitting A level. The numbers are lower for most of the Indy schools in the area except PHS. I know someone who rang around at the beginning of September trying to find the right subject combination and got positive responses from most of the second tier schools. Hher DD had excellent GCSE grades but so in all likelihood will have OP's DD.

I apologise in advance if this is the wrong thread again but they are similar.

Just to add that I took my pupil figures from the govt tables which weirdly is currently showing 2019 results for GCSEs and 2018 for A levels. The latter is updated at the end of the month. Apparently the number sitting at WHS was higher this year but it's difficult to verify until the govt tables come out.

Many thx Cake very helpful info

Ps sure I can find a good 6th form college but in truth don't want to move her!

I'm looking for advice on sixth form colleges like Ashbourne!

So you're not being disrespectful to every student the entire state sixth form system then, just the indie ones. Good to know.

I've been there Lotty! My absolute preference was always for DD to stay put because her schools suits her so well academically.

Don't say no to anything. I "wasted" loads of time investigating 6th forms and talking enthusiastically about schools I had no intention of ever letting DD attend. TBH the only one I really liked is Hurtwood and that is because DD has never shown an interest in anything arty/drama/music etc and I thought if there was anything there at all they would find and it.

With regards to WHS 6th form numbers I have realised now that 2018 was DS1's A level year and Kings had a huge number of joiners from WHS, about 20 I think. Together with LEH they made up half the intake. I think that many leaving can be very unsettling which is probably why the number staying at WHS dropped that year. WHS has such excellent A level results that anywhere else you look at is probably a step down.

To be fair places like Ashbourne are primarily seen as crammers. I spent some time looking at them for DD. Half of Made in Chelsea attended MPW for resits and quite of few of the Kings party crowd ended up at either one or the other for an extra year to try and improve their grades. They also run 18 month courses for those who didn't get Y12 off to the best start. It would be quite a lively crowd in the common room. I don't think OP ever intended any malice towards standard 6th form colleges.

Hi I think @cakeisalwaystheanswer might have meant my thread asking about sixth form colleges (I mentioned Lady Margaret's which I know is a very good school but had a poorly run open evening and didn't impress partly because of that). We didn't like WHS either but I'm curious as to why so many girls are leaving in your daughter's year? Do they just want to go mixed?
As for Ashbourne they do have the option of doing 18 months A level starting in January so she could possible apply now for that (and do her first term of sixth form at WHS) it's again very competitive and half their students are from abroad, but they seem to have flexibility.