Channing sixth form waitlist.

[Jojobee18]

Hi there

I have a bit of a dilemma with sixth form schools for my daughter.

She has a place at Queens College( conditional upon achieving at least 7,7 in science and is on the waitlist for Channing.

Places have been allocated based on predicted grades and reference from the current schools. My daughters current school has downgraded all predicted science grades due to uncertainty around grade boundaries with the incoming new 1-9 grading system. As a result my daughters predicted 6 grade for science was her lowest and unfortunately she would like to do science for 6th form . I am confident she will achieve at least a 7 , however there isn’t much that can be done.

Channing would be our preferred school due to location and reputation

Queens seems like a lovely school but is not close to where we live and I am not so sure about their results in science subjects ..It is however a solid offer .

The problem is that the school requires a £3000 deposit by the 28th December . ( prior to mock exam results being known ) . This doesn’t leave us much time to decide whether to commit to them or hedge our bets on a maybe place coming up in Channing

Obviously I don’t want to muck queens around but I’d like a little more time to decide . Do people think it’s reasonable to write and ask Queens for some more time ?

Any help appreciated . Anyone have any experience with Channing waitlist

I don’t have any experience of these schools but it must be worth asking for a little extension from Queens at least until you have mock results. I would also speak to her current school about raising her predicted grades in Science, it’s all very well them wanting to be cautious but if it means you don’t get offers on sixth form places then it’s rather harsh. Schools often allow (slightly) higher predicted grades for the sake of applications (such as UCAS) but keep their own internal predictions the same. They may wish to wait to see how she does in her mocks though.
Best of luck.

Thanks toomanyeastereggs.

Yes it is a bit harsh. When I talked to the head teacher he said most schools look at the entry test results however not all the schools do a entry tests . I will take your advide and email and ask for more time . Cheers

You're unlikely to get extra time, the deposit date is deliberately set when it is. Most schools bank on a fair number of deposits from those who won't eventually take the place!

A few years back DD was offered a sixth form place at Westminster via the waitlist soon after Christmas, as were a couple of Channing girls. Places do open up as girls decide to board, not to move schools and so on. But you cant be sure.

You may be lucky and Queens agree to wait. However your first step should be to have an honest conversation with Channing about chances. They may only receive formal notice from leavers at Easter. They wont know what impact Brexit might have or which of their own girls wont make the grades needed to continue.

But they know who they have written references for and what subjects might be undersubcribed. (Wait lists move to run by subject combinations.) And if they think they will be able to offer you a place they will want to encourage.

DD thought the girls who cam to Westminster from Canning were lovely. It sounds like a nice school.

Thanks Need more sleep.
I thought I may have been a bit rude to ring up and hassle channing but you are right I will never know if we have a chance until I speak with them.

My daughter knows other girls who applied to channing who weren't put on the waitlist and others who have been offered places at channing who arent going to accept them it's just so difficult to know how many are on it for tbe subjects she wants to do .
I may just give them a call and see if I can get any further information. Thanks for your advice !

Also at sixth form a lot of the difference between getting a place and not getting a place is about subject choice. If they have a full science lab and an empty classics classroom the classicist will get the place.

It will also be a chance to explain predictions.

Thats really odd. At the school ds used to go to they said that A Level places were dependent on GCSE grades so normal deposits/fees in lieu of notice didn;'t apply until after results day.

However, dd's 6th form place was not dependent on A level grades so we did have to pay a deposit to secure her place/bursary.

For DS, we had to pay the deposit on acceptance of the offer, even though it is conditional upon him getting the required grades. However, if he doesn't get the grades, and they won't admit him for that reason, then we get our deposit back. However if we decide not to go for some other reason, then we forfeit the deposit.

So similarly here, I imagine that if OP were to accept Queens College, and then get offered and take a place at Channing, she would forfeit the deposit at Queens College (unless it was because her DD didn't get the grades required by Queens College, but then presumably she wouldn't get the grades for Channing either).