Sixth forms in south west london

[Goingcrazy101]

I'm looking for sixth form options for DS1 who is currently in yr10.

As he is my eldest I am slightly clueless where to start.

What are the local good/academic options?

His potential A-level subject are: Physics, Biology or Geography and French. Looking for places that are strong in these subjects. Ideally state.

We will try Tiffin as this is relatively local to us, but would really appreciate some insight. He has been travelling to school and so would be fine to go to surrounding boroughs. Richmond/Kingston etc. Richmond College/Greycourt?

Any help/advice/insight appreciated.

He should get a decent amount of 8s and 9s at GCSE.

TIA

I heard Esher College is very good all round.

Where is he now? He might already be at my DS1s school, Rutlish. DS is in sixth form and overall I think they have done a good job in keeping the boys engaged despite all the disruption. It is an aspirational school that aims to get kids into university and onto good courses.

Esher College

You could try Tiffin if he's going to get 8s and 9s

I'd try Esher College as well as Tiffin. Also Waldegrave and Orleans Park although they both filled up v quickly this year due to covid/non-exams so only worth applying if you are close.

Thanks all that's very helpful - yes Tiffin and Esher are on the list.

I am not sure what the entrance requirements are for Tiffin.

Do any of the other grammars take kids from outside the school?

Many thanks

Tiffin now has girls for 6th form and reserves a certain number of places for them which means it’s much harder for boys to get in than a few years ago. I imagine it will come down to how popular his course options are.

I’d look at Esther, grey court, Orleans, st Richard Reynolds, twyford, Gunnersbury & waldegrave.

Hi in terms of Tiffin Boys entrance requirements, I think they make conditional offers based on current school’s predicted grades/report - not quite sure, but they do not interview (it’s on the website) . As PP said places for external boys are in short supply as they must need to offer decent number of places to girls. I’m not sure about other local grammars. I assume they would have places. Should be on their website. There are open evenings from September onwards. Esher closing date is much earlier than others and is selected by lottery. Depending where you live waldegrave may not be possible due to catchment. Esher and Greycourt are top of my list for state - but we are not there yet. Unlike year 7 schools handle sixth firm admissions themselves so look at individual websites. There is no limit or ranking for applications.

I thought I should as if anyone has any feedback about Sixth Form at Christ's in Richmond? Separately I have heard great things about St Richard Reynolds, a lot of parents considering even against some private options in the area.

Thanks all - @user1485813778 - Wallington Boys does have a ranking system by the sounds of it if you look on their website. They look at your GCSE points score and rank you on that.

Tiffin sounds like they don't do that.

I'll keep a look out for Esher deadlines.

Just starting to collate all info.

Both Sutton Grammar and Wilson accept boys from outside. Sutton Grammar is more accessible from SW London. I heard only good things about both schools.

Tiffin isn't allowed to reserve places for girls, so in theory boys and girls should have equal access to the places available to external students. However, in practice they do take a lot more girls than boys (I think only around 10 of approximately 70 new students in the current year 12 are boys). Their admissions policy says they rank students according to "our assessment of" a student's estimated grades, so perhaps they assess girls' grades more favourably than boys'.

Here's a link to Tiffin''s admissions policy so you can read it yourself (the but I mentioned is in clause 17.1): www.tiffinschool.co.uk/_docs/sixthform/Sixth%20Form%20Admissions%20Policy%20for%202021%20Entry.pdf

Thanks you @Quorrelsum I'll take another look at their admissions policy for sixth form.

so perhaps they assess girls' grades more favourably than boys' or perhaps they have more girls with top grades applying? Don't girls edge boys in their GCSE grades? I would imagine you may get quite a lot of Tiffin Girls pupils applying too?

It may also be that some boys leave after GCSEs so the new "pool" for Sixth Form is bigger and so it looks like more girls than boys join but it was probably 50/50 if you look at the number of all the new joiners.

@Coronateachingagain

It may also be that some boys leave after GCSEs so the new "pool" for Sixth Form is bigger and so it looks like more girls than boys join but it was probably 50/50 if you look at the number of all the new joiners.

No, that's not correct. In 2020 there were around 70 new joiners, approx 10 of which were boys.

perhaps they have more girls with top grades applying? Don't girls edge boys in their GCSE grades? I would imagine you may get quite a lot of Tiffin Girls pupils applying too?

The offers are based on Tiffin's assessment of your predicted grades, not actual grades. Girls may well get better predicted grades if they're more diligent in their mocks, but surely not to that extent. There are also far more local sixth forms taking in external girls than there are external boys so I don't buy the argument that girls are more likely to apply. I think it's more likely that Tiffin want as many girls as possible, are pissed off that they can't formally discriminate, so do it subtly by the back door instead. Just my opinion of course.

Esher College has a big pull in SW London for would be sixth-formers too and would be very accessible to many who live in and around Kingston (including pupils at Tiffin).