S London 6th form: Graveney, Dunraven, Charter, Elmgreen etc, admissions, q's and experiences

[SixthSenseless]

Hello all,
Sixth form application has taken me a bit by surprise. .
Anyone in the same area of London with questions to ask or experience to share?
For reasons of locality, we are interested in the above schools.
Anyone have any comments on any of them as a sixth form for studying science A levels, probably Chemistry, Biology and then either Physics or Maths? strong teaching / good results in those areas?

We saw Graveney last night and were very interested.

On the application form in the box where it asks for 'subjects you wish to study' is it OK to put 'Maths or Physics', or des a definite choice have to be made?

At the end of all this, if we apply to 3 sixth forms, and meet the entry requirements for all of them do we have a choice? Do we have to rush down to the top-favourite school to accept the place? How does it work? I have seen posts about people rushing to sixth form colleges on results day to get a place

Dunraven next week, then Charter, must get the others on my diary.

Anyone else?

Just me, then?
new questions: the personal statement - how far does that affect likelihood of admission? is it purely on grades, or interview, or statement? it doesn't seem as transparent a process as secondary transfer.

Also, anyone looked at Harris Westminster? Views?

We have seen Graveney and Dunraven and been very impressed with both.

On the face of it Dunraven has a higher grade threshold to get in, whereas Graveney say Cs at GCSE. In practice does this mean that if they are oversubscribed the places go to those with As?

Can personal statements be typed and stuck on the forms?

Should they stick to their chosen subjects, or explain other reasons for their application, e.g a particular extra curricular activitity??

Any further opinions or experiences?

Anyone looked at King's Maths School? Though Dd has decided to do Maths, and is doing well in Further Maths, she has decided it is not a broad enough curriculum, and wants Biology / Chemistry and Maths.

Probably wouldn't get in, anyway - they only take 35 a year.

Anyone know how competitive Dunraven, Charter and Graveney are at Sixth form for new entrants?

The Maths department at Dunraven seems very good.

Sixth, Harris Westminster also seemed to get some good maths results last year.

This page gives the pretty stunning Charter GCSE results in your subjects ("100% A*/A grades were achieved in Chemistry and Physics, and 93% in Biology"). I cannot find an equivalent breakdown for their A levels, sorry. I know Graveney hand their full result breakdown out at open days but I don't think it is available online.

Thank you JaninLondon. Dd has now done her application to Charter, all very encouraging.

We are waiting for the results of Mocks, but Further Maths was the only exam which caused angst, so she is less confident about following a maths focussed A level choice, so is veering towards Maths and two sciences. It would be 3 sciences but physics goes hand in hand with maths and most science Uni courses require maths. Anyway, she is predicted a 7 or 8 for Maths.

How does anyone prepare them for the interview? This is the first time she will have been interviewed for anything.

She can apply for as many as she likes. DD applied for 6 (including 3 on your list) and got offers at them all, varying according to their entry criteria. Be careful, as some say 5 B's at GCSE but then actually require A's for many of the traditional subjects. She also had to do interviews at all of them (having already gone to the Open Evenings) - no preparation really IIRC as she had already had to write a PS for the applications. The interviews weren't all that scary!

She is at one on your list and she/I know teens at some of the others if you want to PM me.

Thank you, BigTillyMint.

She has applied / will apply to 3 schools, I hope that will give enough eventual choice.

Once the results are out does everyone have to enrol for their first choice on that day? What if they have made too many offers that all get filled?

Yes in some schools. In others it was a different day IIRC.

She could enrol in 2 and decide after if she still isn't really sure on results day IYSWIM. One school was first come, first served, so if you weren't quick you wouldn't get a place.

Oh, I didn't know you could enrol in two, to begin with.

So we need to make sure we are not on holiday when the results come out. I will P.M you for the name of the 'first come, first served' school. That sounds like a stressful dash, potentially!