Admissions to 6th form - based on catchment?

[Avala2019]

Just wondering how admission to 6th forms work. Most seem to be based on conditional results (e.g. 5 level 6s and above including english and maths) but does distance get taken into account at all? DSD just got offers from three sixth forms that DD (starting secondary) is way out of catchment for as catchment for year 7 admission is 0.4! One school has a sibling policy that applies even if the sibling is in the 6th form. Don't want to put pressure on DSD but would be amazing if she accepted that school as it would meant that DD may get in on the sibling policy. Seems to me that is it far easier to get into outstanding sixth forms than it is at year 7. Is this right? Also, do they do the same checks on the home address as they do for admission into year 7? DSD spends 50% of her time with us and 50% with her mum, however, she has applied to some schools using our address and some schools using her mum's address as there is no centralised admissions process, unlike when moving to secondary. Seems there is a lot more flexibility when moving at this stage.

There is usually more flexibility but all will publish admissions policies for their 6th forms and the policies will vary. If you are responsible for transport and overseeing her applications, then read them! They may not care where DSD lives. They might. Look at the web sites for guidance with regard to realistic applications and sibling policies.

Yes, it varies - distance is often but not always in the admissions criteria, and in some cases - where minimum grade requirements are set high enough that demand matches or is less than supply of places - it is not "active". One HT told me and my DC "get the grades and I promise you a place".

One thing to be aware of in case you don't get a space in the normal (spring) round of offers due to distance: Many even very oversubscribed schools do a "supplementary enrolment day" in late August where pupils can show up with fresh actual GCSEs and (try to) be accepted (if space).

Holding onto multiple offers until then is common and some pupils will not get the necessary grades, so the schools don't know who or how many they will actually have until August is over (and pehaps early Sept for all I know)

Sixth form admissions are very different from Yr 7. Dc got offers from 2 that we would be nowhere near catchment for. But they all required A / 8 at GCSE for the A level subjects, conditional and then an actual pass.

Look at the published admissions criteria.

Ours aren’t based on catchment however there are feeder 6th forms that link in with the school. The nearest 6th form to us is 2 miles but the feeder for the school is 9 miles away!

Ds2 got a sixth form offer from a school about 6 miles away (City so plenty of cluster schools) we are certainly not I catchment but they want bums on seats. Especially if clever! Quite a few dc in dd's 6th form from other schools, some don't have sixth form, others want to do specific subjects only offered there such as gov/politics or music or PE.

Closer schools, sorry not cluster.

I gather from other MN threads that some sixth forms are very oversubscribed. This isn't the case here at all, hence my comments, but worth checking the situation where you are Op.

In our area there are two very large 6th form colleges that guarantee admission to all who apply on a suitable course. However certain subjects have minimum grade requirements and those without the requisite GCSE passes may have to do re-sits or Level 2 Btec.

School 6th forms in our area tend to give priority to existing students then allocate any remaining places following an interview about suitability of courses.

Sixth forms are only allowed to admit according to grade criteria and not behaviour as well.

They are not allowed to interview to choose. State schools anyway.

I never said the interview was regarding behaviour. It’s about the suitability of the course for the student applying. So ds who will be applying for a music Btec will have to audition/present his compositions.

Ds’s current school 6th form

Admission to the Sixth Form
X High School is an academy and therefore is its own admissions authority.
Students with an Educational Health and Care Plan (EHCP) that specifies X High School Sixth Form as the placement school will be allocated a place provided they have met the relevant academic standards required.
Admission to the Sixth Form will then be from:
 Students currently in year 11 at the Academy (internal applicants), and then
 Students from outside the Academy (external applicants).
No student may be admitted on a fee-paying basis. Students must be aged 16 on 31st August 2019.
Entry for Work Skills is dependent on students having had an enthusiasm and commitment to learning throughout Year 11. Only current Year 11 X High School students are eligible for this course.
Entry requirements
Many courses also have specific grade entry requirements. Students who wish to pursue these qualification aims will need to meet these in addition to the minimum entry requirements. Details of these are shown on the Sixth Form Section of the school website.
Logistical factors mean that individual subjects may be limited in the number of students they are able to accommodate. Where one or more of applicants’ initial course choices are unavailable, it may still be possible to offer a place to study a different combination of subjects. Applicants will be invited to a meeting with a member of the Leadership Group to discuss their aspirations and be advised about the availability of courses that will best meet their needs. The Academy reserves the right to withdraw under-subscribed courses.

Another local 6th form

All students are required to attend an advice and guidance interview to ensure they have chosen an appropriate course and have the required grades for entry.

I never said the interview was about behaviour either.

All the 6th forms we’ve applied for he’s had interviews for!!!

Interviews are allowed - my DC had two, with one of them even being explicitly graded with a points score.

All the 6th forms we’ve applied for he’s had interviews for!!!

Actual interviews...? If they are state schools, then one hopes not.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/389388/School_Admissions_Code_2014_-_19_Dec.pdf

"1.9 It is for admission authorities to formulate their admission arrangements,
but they must not:

m) interview children or parents. In the case of sixth form applications, a meeting may be held to discuss options and academic entry requirements for particular courses, but this meeting cannot form part of the decision making process on whether to offer a place.
Boarding schools may interview children to assess their suitability for boarding;"

(The bolding of the "must not' - which stubbornly refuses to work for me here - means that this is a mandatory requirement).

Yes - schools holding interviews are actually in breach of the law.

Dc attended an interview, ostensibly to discuss options but I wonder why the school would go to so much trouble and take up so much teacher time?

Also, what weight or influence does the reference have? Both ‘new’ sixth forms we applied to required a reference from the current school.

So you want DSD to accept a 6th form place so your DD can attend as a year 7? Is that right?

Haven’t the places already been allocated? Do you want to go on the waiting list?

OP I really hope you do not pressurise your DSD’s choice, or even let her know it would be of benefit.

What address does her Child Benefit go to? We did have to provide proof of address with an up to date CB letter. Most schools treat the CB address as the one to use for school admission.

Reference should have zero impact because it is meant to be on grades alone.

Ime it's rare for a sibling rule to apply to older siblings in 6th form only. Yes, if the sibling has come through the school but not otherwise. Also that's only a small window of a year to get the younger sibling in, going into year 12 won't count I wouldn't have thought.

Yes, you would have to be applying to start in Yr 7 as the older was starting Yr 13.

Though once the older was in Yr 12 you would probably shoot to the top of the list for late / in-year entry. And a place might not come up.

For @MarchingFrogs and @cauliflowersqueeze regarding interviews:

One of the interviews my DC had was along the lines of your rules. This was on the topic of options etc and was for a normal state comp.

The other and more interesting interview (which was graded and affected the chances of an offer) apparently conflicts with your rule, but I suspect that they are using paragraph 2.6 where sixth forms can set their own academic requirements. They don't ask for predicted grades but set their own tests and assessed interviews which are on subjects chosen by the pupil. This is a relatively new standalone sixth form - yes, state-funded and an academy.

I just wanted to show you two that it was not a figment of my imagination or BS - "real" interviews happen, although this is probably an unusual approach.

Interview info: www.harriswestminstersixthform.org.uk/69/interviews

Admissions policy:
www.harriswestminstersixthform.org.uk/uploads/key_information/2_97_hwsf-admissions-2019-20-policy.pdf

BTW I am not saying that they are not breaking the rules - I am no expert on that - but they are at least being completely open about the way they use interviews, they have done it for several years, and Harris probably (think that they) know what they are doing wrt to such rules.

I didn’t think you were imagining it but I am disgusted (yet again) by Harris and its apparent belief that it doesn’t have to act within the law. The fact that they’ve actually published this (rather than doing some behind the scenes stuff) just shows their utter arrogance and contempt for the guidance. It’s utterly disgraceful.