UTC - University Technical College - Any experience of these?

[Practicalpam]

Hello. Thinking of moving DS to a UTC next year. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) or any views about moving a happy settled child at age 14. Thanks

The one near me has a very narrow curriculum which really limits the choices post-16.

To me, 14 is far too young to rule out future directions, and so I would never consider it.

My DS is at one, he is 17 and is redoing year 12. The change in him is massive, from being very stressed out last year, he is coping fine with getting up early and a longish commute. He has realised he is bright after years of being in very high achieving schools. He is also taking part in the general school life for once (eg. Stood for and obtained a position in his "company", which is equivalent to a house).
I would have quite happily have let my 14 year old DD transfer there if she had wanted.

I would look at what the specialism is, the qualification obtained, who the sponsors are and your child.

There is one near us. The training and qualifications are quite vocation-specific. They teach hospitality and IT. It could work for a young person who definitely knows what they want to do, or who isn't a good fit with the traditional academic route.

My child now goes to one is in year eleven and working really hard .
He's settled and has friends who accept him for himself . The teachers are mostly very supportive , and head always approachable .

So all told has been a good experience for us.

Oaksettle , yes it is a longer day for them and a fair number also travel long distances to be there .
They do all the usual gcse same as other schools , but have lots of extras that other schools don't offer like company directors speaking with them , master classes on various different subjects that school specialise in .
Within the sixth form they go out on numerous placements to get a feel of what real work is like , still do a level or btech , but are helped with increase in careers advice.
Same as any other school there are some great teacher who put themselves out , with regular email contact if they know your interested and worried. There also some teacher's who it's just a job .
The head at ours really puts himself out , regularly must work excessive hours beyond when kids have gone home . Will usually answer emails the same day or within a day or two max . If you feel you need to raise an issue with him.
So although not perfect , it's mostly really good , and I would recommend to anyone to have a look round , yes no results available can be off putting .

Thing is you can lead a horse to the water but you can't actually make them drink , is the same with teenagers the teachers and parents can only do so much but at end of the day it's up to the individual child if they want to put the work and effort in to succeed .