Is there any point appealing a private school sixth form refusal?

[Nivvers2001]

DS is currently in year 11 at a fairly academic school and is predicted 7,8s and 9s. He should meet the academic requirements for sixth form entry, however, the head of sixth form told us in February that they will not be offering him a place due to his behaviour. The school is very strict and DS has racked up a number of behaviour points over lateness, uniform, having his phone on him and in one case missing detentions. I am not that worried about DS staying there as he has other sixth form offers and not convinced it's worth 10k a term to stay put, however, DS has lots of friends at school and is happy there so would at least like the option of staying. My question is whether there is any point in appealing the decision given that independent sixth forms can decide who and who they don't admit so it may be pointless even trying. Thoughts?

This sounds the most sensible solution

Thank you SO much. Yes, it's extremely upsetting to come here seeking advice and end up being attacked for literally everything. I think your advice is spot on - maybe an informal conversation to gauge their thinking and for me, even if he leaves, I think it's really important to put on record the lack of process to make sure it doesn't happen again. Or maybe I just leave it as I don't want to cause any ill feeling.

I don’t think it’s going to be worth your or the school’s time appealing, OP. The energy and life we have is finite and in your position I’d honestly redirect your focus to supporting your son on his next step forward.
I would say though that punctuality is important in most jobs, so it’s worth working on this for your son.

Hi all 👋

Just a gentle nudge from MNHQ - please do keep our Talk guidelines in mind. We know temperatures are rising (in more ways than one 😅), so maybe step away from the keyboard, grab a cuppa or something cold, and come back when you're feeling a bit calmer. We'd rather not have to keep deleting posts, as there won't be much of a thread left at this rate!

Thanks for keeping it in the spirit of the community.💙

If he has ADHD they could fall foul of the Equality Act. He shouldn't be treated less favourably because of his disability. Worth a try? I would write a letter and run it thorough chat GPT.

Um, no. You will get a conditional offer, which will be firmed up based only on your actual grades on results day (Oversubscription will be decided by objective criteria...anyone with EHCP/looked after/distance).

Under the admissions code a state school cannot use behaviour/attendance/references/attitude/interviewsfrom current school at all. There was a very recent case confirming this.

So anyone applying to state Sixth form who is predicted to meet the entry requirements will get a conditional offer...regardless of anything else. The school has no choice.

No, I don't do any of those things and have good relationships with all his teachers.

But you're not going to accept my answer are you? You're going to twist it around into something negative to suit your own narrative. So why ask? To stir up trouble? How nasty.

Oh my god, I am SO sorry I forgot to state the word "CONDITIONAL". I thoughts I was being attacked for using the word OFFER so only addressed that point and didn't state the glaringly obvious point that it's a CONDITIONAL offer. Thank you for your addition. You are so amazing for pointing this out. Well done you. Pathetic.

Have you decided what you're going to do OP, what does your son want to do.

I wasn't attacking you. I was just clarifying that state schools cannot use behaviour/attendance/references/attitude/interviews from current school at all.....
So anyone applying to state Sixth form who is predicted to meet the entry requirements will get a conditional offer...regardless of anything else. The school has no choice.

And I was pointing this out because you seemed to be saying because he was great because had offers from state schools.

They had no choice.

That is not to say he is not great. But offers from state school say nothing about him.

You are wrong about state school 6th forms they do not have to make an offer to existing students. Everyone has to apply….they don’t have to make offers ti anyone and when they do make offers they are very clear of the basis of which the offer is made etc. The very very good state school 6th forms often have higher requirements than a lot of independent schools.

My question is why would you want your child somewhere they are not wanted and why would you pay that pleasure?