Admissions: If your child is applying to a super-selective sixth form ...

[seebreez]

... which gives conditional offers based on predicted grades, then it's worth being aware of this decision by the Schools Adjudicator for Twyford CE School: www.gov.uk/government/publications/twyford-church-of-england-high-school-15-july-2022

It is long and complex, but important. Two of the main points seem to be:

1. Use of predicted grades to filter out applicants is unfair because they are subjective.
2. If places are allocated to applicants who received conditional offers ahead of those don't (but who nevertheless get the appropriate grades) then this is acting as an oversubscription criterion and needs to be made clear.

A quote re. point 1:
"I have also considered the position of those students who meet the entry requirements but who are nevertheless accorded lower priority in relation to admissions simply because they were ‘predicted’ a grade or grades lower than they achieved. I do not think that the system is fair to that group. They are just as ‘deserving’ of a place on academic grounds as pupils who achieve the same grades but who happened to have a better prediction. What distinguishes the two cases is a prediction by a third party which is a subjective rather than objective matter."

A lot of schools will be wide open to appeal on this!

Is not filtering out prospective students on predicted grades exactly how university entrance opprates? Is that open to appeal too?

A. Universities are not schools and therefore not subject to Admissions codes - they are subject to different regulations (Access and Participation Plans) set by their regulator (OfS).
B. Most unis make an offer to everyone who applies - admission is still based on actual grades achieved.
C. Uni applicants write a personal statement and supply a referee - both of which can be used to determine whether an offer is made and both of which are subjective.
D. There is no statutory right to a university education.

It’s a bit more nuanced for a couple of reasons @KarrotKake.

Firstly students entering sixth form are still in their compulsory phase of education, so the state (and its schools) have a duty to allocate education fairly.

Secondly and less importantly universities take personal statements, interviews and grades and use those to make the conditional offer and the student usually has full knowledge of what the likely grades that are accepted are, so can apply for a range (6) of universities accordingly ensuring they’re placed somewhere. Ultimately if they don’t get in though they’re not being denied a statutory part of their education. They can try again next year. It’s way less high stakes.

Cross posted

Some selective sixth forms mimic the UCAS process (Twyford say this in their response to the objection) but as a pp said, schools are subject the Admissions Code, whereas sixth form colleges and universities aren't.

I do think the Admissions Code needs to be reviewed to take the needs of Sixth Forms into account. There is usually no coordinated process for sixth form admissions, so it is very difficult for schools to plan unless they use conditional offers.

We went through the process a year ago. All the schools normally do their own entry exams as well as interviews, but you would have to reach a baseline criteria based on predicted grades. Then an exam and interview. Then the conditional offer.
There has to be something that filters out the applicants, and my daughter was interviewed at one school even when she didn't meet the admitting criteria (of at least five 9s, as her school doesn't predict 9s).
As it happened she did better than her predicted grades, but as the process is you accept a conditional offer (and put a deposit down) well in advance it doesn't matter.
And frankly the schools children would be applying to would not be so different in quality that it would make a material difference in A level outcome anyway.
As for unis - we've been told that the personal statement is read only about half the time, and many do not interview.

It isn’t just ‘super selective’ 6th forms (by which I presume you mean the 6th forms of super selective grammars?)

I was shocked by the sudden introduction of differing, subjective and non-transparent selection into the 6th forms of the 3 comprehensives my Dc applied to.

easyday

Presumably you are talking about independent schools (hence the deposit reference). Independent schools are not subject to the Admissions Code. State schools cannot for example take interviews into consideration when making offers. They can only use interviews as a basis for advising applicants on the suitability of their preferred subject options etc.

Yes I was shocked at the differing criteria as well. My son has applied to three - his existing school where he has been offered an unconditional place (even if his grades for his A level subjects are lower than expected).

Second is another fairly high performance secondary school who have given a conditional offer subject to minimum of a 6 in A level subjects and finally a super selective grammar.

They take no applications before results day and if you meet the criteria you apply on results day. They then use results and catchment distance to determine places. Being 20 miles away and son wanting to do the most competitive subjects at the grammar (Maths, FM, Physics and Comp Sci) we know this is a long shot.

I think the admissions criteria for the super selective are fair and they have been very transparent with their admissions process. We’ve had a lot of communication from them explaining exactly what to do on results day and feel it’s the best way. They offer to no one on ‘predicted grades’ just actual results.

Does the admissions code apply to 6th Form? Most schools have different selection criteria for 6th Form to Yr7. For example, Church schools often don’t use Church attendance criteria for 6th Form.

Given we are talking about being admitted to A Level courses which are not suitable for all, how else could schools offer places, apart from based on predicted grades? Can someone explain what would be a fairer way or way that wouldn’t fall foul of the rules or principles?

Schools need to have a sense of how many are coming and to staff each course ahead of August. No-one knows GCSE results until the end of August, so not making any offers until then would be impossible.

Interested to know what would be acceptable.

And yes, schools and colleges have different entry criteria for the same courses. In itself I don’t see this as a problem, but absolute clarity about how offers are made needs to be available. If it’s not based on predicted grades, then it would need to be based on a school-based test or something like CAT results. I’m sure there could be objections to all of these.

I understand that many places give an offer to study at the institution but not on a specific course until results are out. I understand they then fill their courses with results from top down, so those who meet the entry requirements but only just really less likely to get places. Is this acceptable? Shouldn’t all who get the grades be eligible - it means the lower achievers are more likely to end up on course they don’t want and struggle more than they might have otherwise. But at the same time I can see that there are limits on course numbers due to staffing, facilities etc. Rationing of places in some form has to happen.

WombatChocolate: Does the admissions code apply to 6th Form?

Yes, it applies to school sixth forms, but not to sixth form colleges.

The adjudicator doesn't offer a solution - that is for the school to decide - but potential options would be:

1. Entrance exams ☹️
2. Giving everyone a conditional offer and then registering them on offer day in the order set out by the oversubscription criteria (with the obvious disadvantage that a lot of applicants are disappointed and will have to scramble for alternatives elsewhere, and it messes up other schools' admissions too).

There are no easy answers. Ideally schools would put their heads together to come up with some sort of coordinated process, but I can't see it happening.

It isn’t just ‘super selective’ 6th forms (by which I presume you mean the 6th forms of super selective grammars?)

No, sorry, I wasn't clear, but I mean any sixth form that is so oversubscribed that they only give conditional offers to a sub-set of their external applicants, rather than all of them. Only the most oversubscribed schools seem to do this.

How do you get around this though if you don't have conditional offers. Schools won't have the capacity to admit all that apply so applications have to be filtered. DD's school don't offer vocational courses (only A levels) and they have minimum grades you must acheive both overall and in your A level subjects and with the best will in the world, some just aren't up to taking an A level in a particular subject despite making an application. Schools are judged on their exam results so I can see why they want to weed out the potentially weaker students.

Conditional offers are not a problem if they are given to all applicants, with the condition being that they a) meet the min grade criteria and b) meet the oversubscription criteria. For example, oversubscribed sixth forms in my area give conditional offers to all applicants, and have mainly distance-based oversubscription criteria (after the usual priorities for looked after, siblings etc). When results come out they have a registration day for all their internal applicants, followed by a registration day for their external applicants. The registration day appointments are timed in the order of the oversubscription criteria (i.e. the nearer you are, the earlier your appointment will be). If people don't turn up at the right time with evidence that they meet the min grade criteria then they don't get a place. If they turn up but one of the courses they want is full, they are offered an alternative - take it or leave it. When all courses are full, the doors are closed and all remaining applicants with conditional offers are emailed to tell them not to bother turning up. Brutal, but fair.

The same could be done for other oversubscription criteria - e.g. the super-selectives could order their appointments by highest to lowest GCSE point score.

I'm not saying this is the only or best way to do it. I started this thread several months ago, and haven't yet looked to see if/how Twyford have resolved it.

DD is at a selective 6th form ( she had to get a minimum of 8s in her chosen A level subjects and 3 6s in anything else). She also had to do a personal statement and go to an interview. Predicted grades were only part of it.

If this is a state school, the law is very clear they cannot use interviews to make admissions decisions, only to meet the applicant and offer them advice (e.g. about subject choices).

FWIW, I agree that predicted grades shouldn't be used- some schools won't put a lot of thought into these in Y11, and they may not be realistic, or may be under predictions, as well!

@Postapocalypticcowgirl I didn't know interviews weren't part of the decision process, she certainly had the impression it was - yes it is a state school.

Was it a sixth form in a seconndary school, or a stand-alone sixth form? The latter are exempt from the National Admissions Code, so allowed to interview.