What happens if you don't get the results for 6th form?

[hidinginthegarden]

Our local sixth form looks for 5 passes (any subjects) as entry requirement. What happens if a child doesn't get that despite predictions that they will?

Dd who is massively anxious is really struggling with GCSEs and I'm worried that she won't have sone enough to get the 5 passes. She's bright and clever but hasn't done well at school at all.

One of the LSAs mentioned that it wouldn't matter but they would take her anyway. But is that real? Does anyone have real life experience of this with a very anxious teenager.

My son went to enroll at sixth form and they turned him down due to his grades.
Within a week he was enrolled and starting a BTec at another sixth form in the city.
It turned out to be the best result. Much more his thing.

This depends on whether it is an award or diploma. Colleges cant just decide what they are going to count qualifications as. If they are decided externally as an equivalent, they are an equivalent. And they will be added to a pass in English and maths

You do something else. If you can't get 5 passes at GCSEs then A levels are probably not the best next step anyway.

Not all 6th forms offer just A levels. I would suggest college of FE for something more practical. Resits might be necessary but they should be able to accommodate that.

If you don't meet criteria for a level 3 course, you do a level 2 course for a year first.

If your chosen 6th form doesn't do an appropriate level 2, then find a backup college.

Better to do reasearch and find one now than be scrabbling around at the end if August.

Note, colleges round here finish term end June/ v early July.

It all depends on what the specific college offer and what they entry requirements are for each course.

Sounds like your college has A Levels and BTECs. Some offer a place, but the exact course is only confirmed on results. So someone might hope for A Levels in X Y Z subjects, but their results won’t allow them to do that so they could be offered A B Z A Levels or Btec plus Z Alevel.

You need to contact the college or look on their website to see what they offer and individual entry requirements for different courses.

Some colleges offer a narrow range and if you don’t get the grades for the course you applied for, you neeed to apply elsewhere. Most colleges have a range of courses.

16-19 education is compulsory, so someplace will have to offer a suitable course. An FE rather than 6th form college might offer more L2 courses and more re-sits, but most 6th form colleges will have the option for one re-sit alongside the L3 courses, if the student meets those requirements.

You need to check both general entry requirements and if specific courses have specific requirements. They will usual
ly try to find you something else if you don’t meet the offer….but they can’t just let you onto the course you wanted if you don’t meet the requirements…it won’t be suitable.

Colleges often have a wide range of options for vocational non academic routes post gcse (and academic too) but with a wider intake of grades. And/or offer resits in English and Maths. She may find the environment less stressful so defo get looking at colleges. My son hated school and scraped 4s at GCSE but is thriving in college doing a City and Guilds and looking at apprenticeships and the possibility of earning hard cash!

DD's 6th form only offered A levels - no BTECs and no retakes. It was a small 6th form and they didn't have the room or the staff to teach students other than A level students.

As other posters have already pointed out, A levels are a huge step up from GCSEs. If a pupil is scraping 4s and 5s then, unless there were extenuating circumstances, A levels are probably not the right option for them.

Also, not all schools have a 6th form. DD's old school is the only secondary school in the LA with a 6th form.

However, further education colleges offer post 16 courses to suit all levels.

In our city the sixth form schools that mainly do A levels have a basic entry requirement of at least 5 GCSEs at grade 5+ but in actuality each individual A-Level course requires you to have a 6 in that subject at GCSE - except for a few that aren't commonly offered at GCSE where they ask for at least a 6 in the most closely related common subject from maths/english/sciences. For A-Level this is a sensible rule because if you don't get at least a grade 6 at GCSE the A-Level course will probably be too much for you anyway.

Separately there is also a general college which does offer A-Levels and also BTECs, T-Levels, City&Guilds qualifications and all sorts of other certification levels. They guarantee to take any student who applies by the deadline but will filter each student into an appropriate level of qualifications. If your DD doesn't get 5 GCSE passes including English and Maths she would need to find a college like this where she can study to try again to get that basic standard for GCSE, potentially alongside another certificate qualification in something she's interested in at a level that's appropriate for her.