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.

Another school in south London repeatedly broke the law concerning Year 12s not being allowed to continue to Year 13 unless they got certain grades. They were exposed by parents contacting a legal firm and the head teacher ultimately dismissed.

It varies a lot! My city uses ucas for 6th form so you can't hold multiple offers, but the county does individual admissions. Dd had an offer from the city where we live and her school in the county

I suspect that they are using paragraph 2.6 where sixth forms can set their own academic requirements

No, tbis means academic requirements, i.e. saying that you need at least 6 GCSEs at grade 7 or above, or, 5 at 4 -9, but a 6 in all intended A level subjects, and so on.

However, this statement,

This is a relatively new standalone sixth form - yes,state-funded and an academy.

Is it an entity in its own right, i.e. not part of a school (even in a separate building, possibly with its own facilities)? A standalone sixth form (e.g. Harris) is not the same thing as a (11 - 18) school sixth form, I believe.

Only a sixth form - everybody starts afresh, not linked to an 11-16 school.

It came as a shock to me that the sixth forms of comprehensive schools are selective.

The grades were different for different courses but mostly wanted As and equivalent in all A level subjects .

Harris Westminster is , I believe, aimed at getting more state school kids into Oxbridge. This is no doubt part of it. The fact that most state school pupils have never had a high stakes interview before they (maybe) try one at Oxbridge is one of the areas private schools have the edge over state schools. My DS got so much out of the learning process of taking a couple of interviews for sixth form private schools, even before there were any offers and exceptances. He got in, but realized from the line of questioning that he hadn't read nearly enough about his proposed subjects and career and has had his head in books over and above the curriculum ever since.

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

Our local 6th form college holds interviews. Everyone I've spoken to thinks they're competitive. People wait for the "results" letter and post how proud they are that dc nailed the interview on fb.

However I know they never refuse anyone on interview. They do sometimes say they can't manage the combination of subjects wanted, and they do give minimum standards for some of the courses, but no one is refused at that point.

Greentulips/HotPot, I don't expect DSD to chose that 6th form because of DS1 but it would be amazing if she did as DS would go to top of waiting list for year 7. At the moment is he lined up to go to a not very good alternative and we are considering moving purely to get him higher up on the waiting list for this school and so that DS2 will get a place when we apply next October. I understand that there could be movement in September with kids not turning up etc. This 6th form is very unusual in that it does have a sibling policy that applies if the older sibling is in 6th form but they are changing the policy with effect from Sept 2020 so it won't apply if child joins the 6th form as an external candidate. And no, obviously I am not putting any pressure on DSD to go there (god forbid). She knows that DS put it as his top choice this year as it was before she applied and really only how she came to know about the school and she knows that I have been considering moving for the last 2 years to get closer to this school. Annoying though as there really isn't between the 6th forms she is considering in terms of academics (they are all excellent). I think the child benefit goes to her mum's house not to ours but apparently you can use both addresses when you apply to 6th form. Not sure they will even check her address will they?

However I know they never refuse anyone on interview.

No because that would be doubly illegal.

It’s outrageous they’re doing it in the first place. I can’t believe nobody has called them out on this.

I would check the policy on sibling admissions. Schools may only prioritise admission if the first sibling is in the high school rather than sixth form. Might not be the case for you, but definitely was for our local joint school/sixth form.

Ah never mind I've just seen your new post!

Our local 6th form college holds interviews

So do ours. But they're not really interviews, they're just discussions about A level choices, predicted GCSE grades etc. My ds is holding offers from two colleges at the moment, he's planning to do both induction days in July and then decide which to go for - I hadn't realised you could do that, but admissions staff working at both colleges have said it's fine.

DD has had face to face discussions at both her sixth form choices. Both have been absolutely clear that it doesn't form part of the selection process, but have been about subject choice vs longer term aspirations and also a chance to ask questions about the specific sixth form. Both set requirements for GCSE grades for admission.

Like having, she will attend both induction days - the two sets of requirements are significantly different, so her final destination will depend critically on results.

However I know they never refuse anyone on interview.

No because that would be doubly illegal.

It’s outrageous they’re doing it in the first place. I can’t believe nobody has called them out on this.

I don't really get why you're so outraged about it. They don't pretend it's a competitive interview; it's just everyone assumes it is. I've seen the paperwork, and it's just saying "come and meet your tutor and have a discussion about your sixth form choices", basically in the same way a smaller place might have an induction evening or day.
All the "results" letter is, is a "we look forward to welcome you" standard letter with a brief personalised message from the tutor about the options the student wants to take.

Because Harris state on their website:

During the interview your interviewer will be marking you on four aspects of your learning. These are:

Enthusiasm for your subject
Affinity for your subject
Ownership of learning
Speed of learning

Marking someone on aspects of an interview suggests (strongly) that this will count in their selection process.

I’m fine with a chat / meeting / discussion - absolutely. It’s important for students to get to know what a potential post-16 provider is like.

I am not fine with a school stating criteria upon which they are grading students who come for “interviews”.

Hope that clarifies.

I am not fine with a school stating criteria upon which they are grading students who come for “interviews”.

But why not caulifower?

I hear what you say about it being illegal (I haven't checked, but assume that is the case). But taking a step back, is it good for state school students that is is illegal?

if it was similarly illegal (or not done), to interview students for university (as it was in my country when I went to university, where admission was based solely on a score made of adding your four best subjects out of 100 and 10% of any other subjects you took), then I can understand it not making sense to interview for sixth form.

But in a country where it seems from what I am hearing, pretty much all the top university places go to kids on a combination of grades and interview (and sometimes additional exams such as STEP), making it illegal for state schools to put state school students through the exact kind of test, ie an interview, that they will need for university, while the private schools are free to do so and to select on that basis, seems like a legistative attempt to tilt the playing field in the favour of the private schools. And then they wonder why there are so many more kids from private schools in Oxbridge. Here is on reason straight away.

Interestingly enough, when I went to university in my country, there was a lot of criticism of the fact that there were no interviews, particularly for subjects like medicine, with the argument being that it let in the rigidly academic over those who might have a good bedside manner, with the counter argument being that it was so expensive to interview, rather than just ranking everybody's scores and going down the list of applicants and cutting at the point at which you had enough to fill the places (which is also why in my country the final exam results came out and then the universities were able to make offers immediately to the top applicants, so there was no need to make conditional offers). This was regarded as much better than having to make conditional offers, but it did priviledge the kids who were good at written exams over those with social skills, and meant that the first interview most of us had was for a graduate job!

^^one