Sixth Forms in Cambridgeshire

[Eager2B]

Dear Cambridge Mums, I would appreciate your advice on local sixth forms. My daughter will start A Levels in Sept 2016 and we plan a move to Cambridge or surrounding area just before. It's quite difficult to get information from the local authority website about sixth form education. I've spoken to a few schools directly, Impington VC, Comberton VC and Hinchingbrooke School, all of which were very helpful and sounded very good. There are a few others in the surrounding areas that don't have very good Ofsted reports, so I'm asking for parental views and experience, particularly St Ivo School, Ely College, Netherall School.

Any help or info would be much appreciated as we want to make the right choice at this important transitional stage.

Are you not considering Hills or Long Road?
I don't have any sixth form knowledge ad my children are younger but I'm surprised to see a list of sixth forms without these two.

The full list of sixth forms/further education colleges (excluding independent schools and colleges) is on the Cambridgeshire CC website
Some of the FE colleges don't offer A Levels (e.g. Cambridgeshire Regional College).
Some of the school sixth forms are fairly recent additions to schools (e.g. Comberton).
Some may offer IB instead of A Levels (e.g. Impington)
There are two large sixth form colleges in Cambridge (City) - Hills Road (very selective) and Long Road (less selective). Students go to these from a very wide area.

I have very little local knowledge, and don't know anyone in the area. It sounds as though you are saying Hills and Long Road are the best schools? If so, I will take a look at them. Thank you.

That's really helpful Cantusemyusualnickname. Thanks.

I went to Long Road (quite a few years ago) it was a fantastic college and I really enjoyed my time there. I also had a lot of friends at Hills Road.

It depends on the subjects but Hills Road was generally considered more academic and Long Road more artsy.

I knew a lot more people that dropped out of Hills Road. It was stricter and more school like. We had a lot more freedom at Long Road (not always a good thing).

I have friends from Long Road who have gone on to do PhDs at Cambridge and Oxford and also know a couple who did medicine.

That's great info, thanks CursedTea . I will definitely look at Long Road. Daughter is academically able, but also enjoys Art & Design, so I want to get the balance right for her.

In terms of transport, is it easy for students to get into central Cambridge from outlying villages? It sounds as though many students travel in for sixth form?

You have to make your own transport arrangements, as far as I know. Hills Road SFC website states:
We do not operate our own bus service and students need to plan their own transport arrangements
Most students come in via public bus or train. The fares used to be part-subsidised but I'm not sure what the current position is.

We all used public transport to trek in, people came from all over.

Ok, well that makes it much more accessible if we choose to live further out of town. We currently live in a very rural location with few transport links, having a regular bus service will be a novelty for our teens. Long Road website looks great. Thanks for your help so far.

Kids in our village (Near Burwell) are waiting for public transport around 7.15am to get into Hills/Long Road in time - so it does make for a long day (I grew up elsewhere and had a 5 min walk to 6th form so this is alien to me!).
Avoid Newmarket Academy (Suffolk / Cambridgeshire borders).

7:30 for the bus that goes through Linton and Abington. Bus stops are right outside Hills Road SFC and for Long Road SFC it is a short walk from the nearest bus stop on Hills Road.

Hills Road is supposed to be the one to aim for, but doesn't suit everyone. It's huge, for a start, an some children simply prefer the idea of a more 'schooly' sixth form a fraction of the size.

I'll add Parkside 6th to your list: it's small and offers IB and BTechs rather than A-levels. DS was rather taken with it but opted for Comberton 6th in the end.

Thank you Tingalingle, I will look at Parkside too. We have a village college system where we live now, sixth forms are usually smaller, and that is what she will be used to. Though of course integration into a larger school will be good preparation for Uni. I was very impressed when I spoke to Comberton, did your daughter do well there?

Son rather than daughter, and yes, he did well there (A A A at A-level, mainly science subjects) though obviously he's only a sample of one! When he had some health difficulties, the Comberton staff really went the extra mile to help him catch up on missed work.

My younger son is at Hills doing an entirely different set of subjects. He is enjoying the English teaching, but floundering in some of the others and possibly a bit lost in the system.

Thanks for sharing that Tingalingle, apart from their academic ability their success really does depend just as much on how comfortable they are in the environment. With a set of A* grades from his older brother, I'm sure your younger son will do equally well.

Thanks so much for all the advice I'm getting on this forum, it's really helping us with our decision making.

Shouldn't think my boy at Hills will do nearly so well academically, but that's the child not the school. He is, however, really enjoying being a short bus hop or walk into central Cambridge when college is over each day, after years of school out in the sticks. My older boy didn't have that benefit and slightly regretted it.

The bus pass (Stagecoach Goldrider) was a somewhat eye-watering £650 for the year but covers weekends and county-wide travel.

Ouch! That is steep, and definitely something to factor into the equation

My ds is currently at Comberton 6th form. He likes the fact that he doesn't have the long bus journey into Cambridge (over an hour in rush hour). However, because Comberton 6th form finishes its day early (3pm) he quite often goes into town to meet up with friends straight after school, as the bus journey is much quicker then.

A small 6th form like Comberton can't offer the breath of subjects and the "college" experience that Long Road or Hills Road does, but in my experience, the pastoral care is fantastic.

Thank you MrsGrowbag, that's exactly the sort of advice I needed.

I am looking for a sixth form inCambridge that will give my daughter a chance to restart her Alevels after suffering PTS.
It has been a long battle and she would like to commence again

Moroni Usually best to start a fresh thread then to reopen one from more fhan 3 years ago.

Definitely A levels, or would BTEC or IB be considered? You have a MASSIVE choice in Cambridge!

My daughter is at hills. I didn’t want her to go there because of the size and the pressure they are under to achieve. However, I have been so pleasantly surprised at the community feel it has and the support they offer. She had originally accepted an offer at Comberton but found them to be so desperate to grab at the heels of hills they were very strict in terms of the ‘make up’ of the programme each individual child will take to maximise results. After a conversation with them she turned down the offer and applied to hills late August...she was then accepted for her chosen subjects. It’s such a shame as the school is really great and I much preferred the size of the sixth form. Another thing you should be aware of is that Comberton abs hills will only let you put them down as a first choice. If you put them second they don’t even look at the application. Good luck! Such a stressful time! More schools in Cambridge should offer sixth forms as I found I really slim pickings for A levels. Parkside and impington looked great but only offer the international bacculerate (or however its spelt!)

Way back, I was at The Manor School when comprehensive schools were relatively new. I then went on to Long Rd. The state sixth form choices were Hills, Long, Netherhall or The Tech (now Anglia Ruskin).

I can still raise a gasp amongst newer academic staff at Cambridge by telling them I went to The Manor, but it was actually a very good school then. The now excellent Chesterton Community College (then Chesterton School) was not such a good option in the early years of the comprehensive system.

My child put Comberton first and Hills second on her sixth form application and received interviews and offers from both for her 4 A-level choice. She has still not decided which to go to and is still holding both offers.