Private sixth form vs state sixth form - free time?

[tratx]

Just wondering if DC in private sixth forms get as much free time as state sixth forms? I know a lot of students at state sixth forms/colleges and they hardly spend any time at school, they don't have to go to school everyday etc and I'm just wondering if it's the same at private sixth forms? Do all schools teach the same amount of hours per a-level per week?

I’ve worked in a lot of state schools wnd never experienced a sixth form like the one you’re describing.

My ds went to state 6th form and they had to be in every morning for 8.40 and if he had a free period it had to be spent in the 6th form block working.

DD is at a 6th form college as her (Private) school didn’t have a 6 th form. She has quite a few friends at Private 6th forms and according to her she has a lot more free time than they do. She just goes in for lessons whereas they go every day from 8.30 to 3.30. Not sure what they do all day though

Though I would add they might as well start to learn how to manage their time as they need to know how to do it for uni.

Often they don't have to go in if they don't have lessons, but given that each subject will have 5 or 6 hours a week, and they usually do an extra subject, or extra curricular, plus an hour a week tutor time on CVs, study skills, uni applications etc, they'll be timetabled for 20-25 hours a week. So maybe one day a week off if the timetable works that way. (NB expectation is one hour self study for every contact hour.)

I went from a private school (no 6th form) to state 6th form college (a proper college not attached to a school). I was only required to be in for lessons. I did take the piss a bit but tbh it was wonderful prep for uni. My friends who’d been at 6th forms that were more like a proper school set up were disasters when they were given the freedom of uni. By that time - for me - the novelty had worn off and I attended all my lectures and seminars.

I think you might be thinking of a college set up as opposed to a state school? Schools, private or state, ime tend to want students in as if it were a proper school day. The only exception at my 6th form was if we had a free period at the end of the day we could leave early.
However our friends at college didn't have to go in if they didn't have a class that day, for instance, and only had to attend their classes. More like a university type set up I guess?

two of my children went to 6th form and they were in school for 8.50 and left at 3 for the first year unless they had a free period at the end of the day, any other free periods had to be spent studying onsite

Sixth form in college- come for lessons only
Sixth form within a 11-18 state school- come in all day, regardless of lessons and many have compulsory enrichment.

That's my experience of things in London

You can't really generalise that much by type of school. All schools/colleges mostly teach the same number of hours per A-Level per week, it's the same syllabus. They can vary quite a bit in their rules about what they expect kids to do outside of lessons, and where they have to be if they have no timetabled activity at all. Typically kids have more free time in Y13 compared to Y12. On top of that, it often depends on how the particular lessons are arranged in the timetable. It's perfectly possible, if unusual, to end up with 3 long days and 2 short or completely free days. Or to have all afternoons free, or always have a late start.

DD's state school sixth form teaches 4 hours per A Level subjects, plus 1 hour of PSHE a week, plus 2 hours of tutor time/assemblies a week.

Her cousin's private school sixth form is virtually the same (6 hours of 40 minutes per A Level subject) plus similar tutor/support time.

however, her friend at a sixth form college (taking a vocational subject) only spends 2 whole days in college (but long days so probably not much less time).

there are also differences around how much time the students have to spend in sixth form - for both the state school students here they only have to be in for lessons, whereas the private school student has to attend for whole school days.

As others have said 6th form colleges only need to be in for classes. Personally I much prefer this. DS is currently at a college, he also works 8 hours a week so can do this during the week, leave weekends free for sport and socialising. Gets his homework done during the weekdays when he is off. Much more like uni. He is nearly 18 do shouldn't need to be spoonfed. I remember the kids that had gone to restrictive schools being the ones that really struggled at uni.

When my dd was looking the length of teaching hours depended on the class sizes. More students in the class, longer hours.

In the end she went for the one with more students as she wanted the debates and the exposure to people with different opinions.

I don't know of any sixth forms where you don't go every day although where dd went they could go home on Wednesday afternoons if they didn't want to do sport.

My ds is in a state school sixth form. They have to be in every day for 8.40 whatever, and can be told they need to be on site during free periods if they are deemed to be needing supervision of studies. Ds only has 2 free periods a week anyway as he is doing 4 A levels and an engineering elective

I remember the kids that had gone to restrictive schools being the ones that really struggled at uni.

This is very true. Some of DD's friends who stayed at school couldn't manage their own work load at university as they were used to being told what to do and when to do it.

I went to a girl's grammar school with an all girl's sixth form. We had to wear uniform even in sixth form and could not leave the premises unless we had something like a medical appointment or were part of a scheme where we volunteered in primary schools. It sounds hideous but it was alright. I quite enjoyed sixth form.

Oh yes, and I got into a really good uni and barely scraped a 2:2 so the theory re strict sixth forms = poor performance at uni may be right!

These days I would t go to uni though. I went for the experience really and it's too expensive for that now.

I remember the kids that had gone to restrictive schools being the ones that really struggled at uni

its obviously down to personal experience, the children that i know went to the 6th form which kept school hours did not struggle at university, my daughter who went to a college did not do a degree and a few of the other children i know went on to take the first year of uni again (some in different subjects)

I don’t doubt it happens both ways though…

once the 6th form children were in the 2nd year they had more free time, and in our case it was only a 15/20 minute drive away compared to the colleges one of which was about 45/60 minutes away on a bus which left at about 7 am

I assume that the time spent in actual lessons is about the same. The sixth form college that my DD is hoping to go to states that roughly 14 hours should be spent in lessons, the same amount should be spent in independent study and a couple of hours a week should be spent doing sport or joining a club etc.

She'll be going to college by subsidised bus so will have to stay there all day but students are free to leave the campus and go into town if they like. I think her plan is to do the independent work during the day so she has more free time at home though I'm sure there'll also be plenty of time spent sitting round with friends drinking coffee!

She can't wait for the freedom to manage her own time (and wear what she wants).