DD A-level admissions - What should I know!?

[arpo]

Hi all,

I’m hoping to get some advice from mums who’ve been through this before me - or anyone just more clued up than me (not hard).

• For DS 11+ we naively applied late to two great SW London/Surrey public schools, only to discover multiple applications and years of tuition are the norm.
• Whilst he scraped through despite not having that, the whole thing had so much luck involved and was a trauma made harder by my total lack of planning and thinking ahead, that I’m really keen to do a better job for DD as she approaches A-levels.
• I have time on my side as she’s just begun Y10 at a small private school. They don’t teach past GCSE and I’ve heard the other schools in the SW London / Surrey area set a very high bar for girls joining at sixth form.
• DD appears to be pretty academic and is a generally happy, well rounded kid.

Having seen how brutal the 11+ process can be, I’m almost scared to ask... what don’t I know about 6th form applications that I should!?

Thanks so much for any advice you care to share

Where do kids from her private school usually go?

Are you looking at state or indie 6th forms OP? There are quite a variety in Surrey, some are 6th forms attached to secondary schools, others are 6th form only, some will be a lot easier to get into than others. If you want to stay within a small private school environment then it will be a tougher process as there will be fewer places available.

Thanks for the replies.
@AveEldon I will try to find out, thanks for the pointer.
@FlyingPandas Looking at indie 6th forms and would prefer one that’s larger than DDs current school. We’re in Wimbledon but don’t mind travelling out eg Reeds or Notre Dame. I’ve heard boys schools in Surrey set the bar higher for girls joining at sixth form to boost their average results so my guess would Reeds is easier to get into at sixth than Notre Dame for example.

Edit: “harder to get into” (not easier)

I’ve been through this twice recently, in the same general area, with a DS and a DD. Firstly, I wouldn’t be too gloomy about having a girl. Some boys schools that let girls Into 6th form may have high entrance levels (eg KCS, Tiffin) but in general and realistically/empirically girls tend to do better than boys at gcse and a lot of schools will be happy to take a low maintenance, well performing girl for 6th form (especially where they do not have to dig in to reasons for changing).

It was interesting how little standardisation there was (when you think how 11+ is largely same time and format for open days and entrance exams). We had a whole mixture of light interview only, interview plus CAT tests , general exam/aptitude paper, all the way through to a full on “one Exam paper per proposed a level subject”. So you need to be proactive re looking at the timing of open days and what the specific entrance exam requirements are for each school .

It is a much smaller intake point, so the schools tend to know what they are looking for and we found that as the numbers were relatively small it was all pretty low key and easy to find someone at the school by phone or email who could answer questions. I think overall it is a much more flexible process and I would not necessarily be put off by the stated requirements.

We got very good outcomes for two very different children (we were both trading up and trading down), so from my experience it can be a v positive experience, but you do have to put the spadework in.

Good luck!

Thanks @TawnyPippit it’s so helpful to hear about your experiences like that.

My daughter is applying for sixth form in sw London. I did not grow up in the UK and my husband is deceased so it's all new to me (my child goes to a non selective independent that goes from nursery through sixth form). We started looking in Y10 too as we live some ways from London so couldn't make all the open days and wanted to eliminate some early. As it happens most are doing virtual open days now and you can just register online. Not the same as physically going but that's just what's happening now. You could do virtual now and then hopefully visit the schools next Spring or Autumn if things become more open.
All the schools have comprehensive admittance criteria on their websites, so no point on applying somewhere that requires 7 minimum for GCSEs if your child will struggle to get that. The schools also have sixth form prospectus, even if they only admit a handful, and that gives you a flavour of the type of child that is typical of the school and the ethos. We also eliminated some based on too few admitted in sixth form - aimed for at least a quarter new pupils. We have narrowed it down to five and some requested last school report and predicted grades, some have 'tell us about yourself and the A levels you want to take and why' type form. All will write to her current school for a reference. Next stage, should her predicted grades be on the level they are looking for, will be interviews and exams and scholarship interviews, all in October/November, with conditional offers in December, so the process is quite quick. Each school must have an idea of the type that will fit in and succeed, and I'm not sure you can really figure out what the thing is that will distinguish your child from the rest.
I also took a limited subscription to the Good School Guide. It was interesting to read the entry for our current school, some of which I was surprised at, though thought the headmaster was honest and accurate.