Secondary Comprehensive Schools

[LesleyA]

HI please advise...is it almost a given that most kids that go to comprehensive secondary schools will finish at 16 and then go onto vocational studies rather than getting their GCSE's. In other words the majority wont qualify to go to university?

Vast majority take gcses at 16. Some comps have sixth forms , some don't. Some colleges offer A levels alongside vocational btecs and nvqs.

And level 3 vocational courses still accrue UCAS points which count for some uni entry criteria or as grades in their own right.

It's not remotely a given. It is codswallop.

Our local comprehensive pretty much all take GCSEs at 16. Then most (60% ish) stay on for the 6th form to do A levels at the same comprehensive school. Others leave to go to college, other 6th forms or apprenticeships.
The 6th form then takes new 6th formers from other schools in to yr12 as well.

Ha! I properly laughed at this. Where I live there's no grammar school system so it's all comps unless you can afford to go private. I went to a comp which offered a levels as did my siblings. We all went to uni, as did many of our peers. My kids comp also offers a levels and lots go on to uni from there. Perhaps it depends where you live though and I should just be very grateful we don't have to worry about the grammar school bollocks...

Even in grammar school areas lots of non-grammar schools offer A-levels at 6th form, many go to university, even to Oxbridge.

'It's a given that most kids .... will finish at 16 and then go onto vocational studies rather than getting their GCSEs' - you know GCSEs are take AT 16, right? So are you talking about POST-GCSE vocational courses? I had my son's (state) GCSE options talk last night: nearly all the pupils are expected to take 9 GCSEs: very, very few non-GCSE options available (2 iirc), although certainly some more overtly vocational GCSE options available.

Yes, more children from private school children go to uni than state schools (not surprisingly - economics/social factors...) but - for example - Cambridge has more state than private children last year: www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-38842482.

Is that you Michael?? 😂

We had 4 go to Oxbridge last year from my inner city comp. Vast majority go to uni from 6th form.

About 60-70% stay on for A Levels after GCSE, the rest go to College or get an apprenticeship.

Don't be daft.

You can look up the GCSE results for your local school. I believe that slightly more than half of teens go to uni.

I think this illustrates a problem with the Mumsnet Education section. You could easily get the impression that vast majority of non-grammar state school parents are too illiterate to post here. Threads are dominated by private school parents agonising over little DCs superselective options. Especially re. Londoners - there are maybe 5 other London-based state school parents active on MN??! (Cheers comrades . . .!)

What UTTER piffle.
Hampshire has Comprehensive schools
but the 6th form colleges seem to manage to send thousands of children to university every year

Yo, Mary.

You do realise that children can go on to university after taking vocational qualifications?

Plenty of kids do BTECs and then go on to do health sciences, engineering, IT and other subjects at university.

OP, did you think about that question before you posted? Comprehensive schools educate about 90% of the population of England and Wales. Are you suggesting that only 10% of all students who attend those schools go on to do A levels/attend university?!

But who says ‘secondary comprehensive’
It’s usually either/ or isn’t it?

LesleyA. I'm curious. Why did you ask this question?

Nope. Selective secondary? Private secondary? Secondary comprehensive, or secondary comp as many people say.

We had 23 oxbridge offers from our comp last year. I expect those children did a levels.

Having done a quick AS Lesley is moving here from overseas and is struggling to understand the school system in England (Bristol possible destination).
I suspect she's confused about secondary moderns (i.e. not grammar) and secondary comprehensivez.

Not sure what that z's doing on the end

My comp had a 6th form, and most of us who 'stayed on' went to uni...

LesleyA. If as Grockle says you are moving from overseas please be assured that many children go on to university from comprehensives in the UK.

Up until the 1970s most areas had grammar schools for 'academic' children and secondary moderns that aimed to equip children for a manual type of work. Which children could go to a grammat was determined by a test.
Most areas changed in the 70s to a comprehensive system and abolished grammar and secondary moderns in favour of schools for everyone (hence comprehensive). Some areas retained grammar schools but the schools that aren't grammar schools there are not like the old secondary moderns.

What? NO!!!!! That is total rubbish.

My kids go to a comprehensive. Most kids in their school stay to do A levels, and many go to uni, including Oxbridge.