UTC Oxfordshire any good?

[cavebunny]

I have a bright DS who is a budding engineer currently at a good-ish secondary in Oxford. He is keen to go to UTC Oxfordshire in Didcot because of the strong science and engineering focus, however, last years results don't look great and I'm not convinced it would be a good move for GCSE's. Also put off by a previous thread from 2017 that suggests the intake is mainly those bullied out of their secondary school and the bullies who got thrown out of secondary school. It's certainly true that there aren't many kids willing to move schools/friends at age 14 Does anyone have experience of UTC Didcot over the last couple of years? Any advice would be really helpful as a decision has to be made next month and I just don't know what to do - let him go or let him down for his own good?

Apart from the perceived reputation of UTC Oxfordshire, is there another reason why your son wants to change schools?

He's doing well at school and has friends but the strong pull for him is the engineering as that's what he can relate to and understand better than any other subject area. He is simply just enthusiastic about the subjects they study at UTC over the traditional subjects at his secondary. It's a long way for him to travel (bike, train, bike), but he's even willing to do that.

I'd still be wary. The exam results for last year are not impressive- so for that reason I'd keep him at his current school.

Thanks for advice, that’s just how I feel, but it’ll be another matter persuading my son that it’s the right thing to do 😕

Having once lived within the estate the college is in, it draws quite a few from local (deprived) catchment. It does have its fair share of pupil social issues and taking rejects from the local secondary schools for a 'fresh start' (I know as my lodger at the time was a teacher at another secondary school who's 'difficult' students left to go to the UTC!). It also turned out one or two gem pupils, even one got into Cambridge I think but I would say, top cohort is definitely a minority cohort and you'd have to be quite a hardened, determined student to do well there. On the positive side, you'd probably get a lot of support and the facilities and gym is amazing We decided not to opt for ourselves. Just seemed really hard work there.

If he wants to do Engineering of any kind at university then A levels in the required subjects are just fine. You don’t need any other qualifications. Or experience. He could stay where he is and get into a university for engineering. There are lots of branches of engineering and he needs to evaluate what suits him best and choose A levels or BTec accordingly. A level maths is always a good start plus physics.

I don't know anything about this one but a lot of UTCs are running into trouble and closing, and it's an idea which doesn't seem to have worked well.

Do sports and outdoor space matter to him? I see mention of a good gym but some UTCs as new schools have been set up on less than ideal sites.

I would talk to him about staying at his current school for GCSE if it's ok, and looking at courses and options with a more vocational approach if that's what he's drawn to for both post GCSE and if he wants to do university, that too. That keeps his options open for a bit longer at least.

I’ve 2 kids currently doing engineering at 2 different Russell Group unis. Neither did engineering at school, it isn’t a required A level for any of the unis they looked at. Your ds needs Maths and Physics A levels, and virtually an other A level.
Similarly for kids my own school has found post A level apprenticeships in engineering for do not require engineering at GCSE or A level.

The UTC doesn’t offer Engineering A level. Not sure if this exists any longer anyway!

DH did it in the 70s when it was superb prep for engineering disciplines. His school had links with a university and they went to lectures given by Professor Heinz Wolff. Schools would kill for this these days. Why schools cannot offer an academic engineering A level these days is such a shame. The school also entered teams for engineering competitions. DH was genuinely excited by it. The school also offered an architecture course as well. An early EPQ!

There is a 14+ stem school in Banbury too. A 'studio school' rather than UTC (not sure what the difference is). Was called Banbury Space Studio but I believe has changed its name this year. Maybe worth checking out as an alternative.

Settled, happy, capable students who are doing well at school don’t have any desire to move for year 10. They just don’t. There is therefore always going to be a self-selecting element to a UTC intake of pupils who haven’t settled into secondary education for myriad reasons. If your DS is settled and achieving then don’t move him. He needs excellent maths and physics and does t need to specialise until he reaches higher education.

It is a shame though that standard schools cannot offer any form of education that supports engineering. We need these people. To do the required A levels and be inspired to be an engineer is always best. Too many do Engineering degrees and then go and work in Finance because they are not born to be engineers. They have the required A levels but they are never going to be engineers after university. They need early inspiration.

UTCs were Gove's baby. I think that tells us everything we need to know. He totally thought that getting people in to teach who were good in their professional fields would work - no need for trained teachers. He also failed to foresee that these schools could become a dumping ground for managed moves. I'm not saying there's no merit in the idea of specialised schools for certain career pathways (the old technical schools for example) but flash buildings don't necessarily equate to great results with a disaffected cohort and 'teachers' who struggle to manage behaviour.

Banbury is a long schlep from Didcot.
I live down the road from the Space Studio (or whatever it's called now) and I wouldn't send my DC there.
Considering the low numbers of students there, exam results are poor.
They're taking students from Year 7 now, probably to boost numbers.

There is a similar school in Keynsham called IKB where my DN transferred from his secondary at the start of Y10. He had indeed had some issues with behaviour and was bullied himself which prompted the move. The school is small and recruits from other comps in the area. It does STEM subjects with some access to the neighbouring comp for other subjects. It’s quite new and results aren’t amazing, but I think it works wonders with DC who might otherwise have failed in larger schools.

I don’t know what your local school is like but if your DS wants to go there and is self motivated it might not be a bad idea?

twilightcafe the OP is in Oxford so Banbury is about the same distance from Oxford as Didcot is (ish). I will confess I know nothing about the one in Banbury other than it exists.
I often wonder why the UTC idea hasn't really worked. I actually quite like the concept.

Thanks all for your advice, we're still not sure what to do but it's been really helpful to hear your comments.

The reason it hasn’t worked is that too many DC go to them who struggle in standard schools. They have never been viewed as better. Their idea of Engineering, for example, is not doing MEng at a reputable university after leaving school and having a decent choice of career paths. Early specialism from 14 is done purely to help local employers find employees without paying for graduates. They are seen as second class schools for DC who struggle elsewhere and that’s why they won’t readily succeed. They have a narrow curriculum and career path and many DC don’t know what they want at 14 anyway. So why specialise? Quite a few have been hammered by Ofsted too. Parents of talented DC are not going to gamble on them and quite a few have closed too.

OP: might I suggest you investigate what engineering your DC understands? Does he know the difference between civil engineering and mechanical engineering? Does he fancy automotive or aerospace engineering? What about electrical or chemical engineering? He needs to think about what excites him about “engineering” and what is the best route to achieve his goal. Look at all the engineering institutions to see what is involved. When you and he are fully informed, look at what the universities actually want regarding qualifications. Then look at the best place to get these. Also look at possible apprenticeships.

The higher earning engineers these days will have MEng degrees. They will fast track to Chartered professional status. They are very different from, and much more highly qualified, than someone who repairs your dishwasher but is called an “engineer”. They are not. So what sort of budding engineer is he? You cannot make a sensible decision unless you know whether he’s university bound or would happily train on the job but not obtain professional status.

No experience of that one but one in our area has turned around and also now takes from year 9 which is more sensible than year 10. Previously it was where the children thrown out from other schools went. Now it's the children who want to do science and achieves higher results than the outstanding comp my children are at now which already gets results some way above the national average. It has a positive value add.

It does have a high proportion of children with ASD and undiagnosed ASD - my son who is likely to change is in that category and it's a perfect school for him. He is very academic but prefers a narrower curriculum and subjects they offer are all the ones he likes. At his current comp only 2 kids go to science club at lunch, over there it's half the school. Current school like most mainstream hide the ASD kids away, that school uses them to advertise the school. It's a very small school so quieter.

My other child we looked at it for but it was too narrow for her. So does depend on the child. Ours is definitely not just vocational - its achieves better results than almost all the local comps including ours and has a positive value add. I would be wary of changing schools for year 10 though - having said that if your current school say only goes to 16 and UTC goes through to A Level there's going to be a move at 16 anyway. I presume you have been round the school - for us it was quite easy to say yes, only downside was the journey. Ours has excellent links into employers and good track record at getting scholarships.