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Secondary education

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Original poster

Do state sixth forms let students know if their application is unsuccessful?

36 replies

Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 14:17

To cut a long story short, my dd has applied to very few sixth forms due a poorly managed bullying situation leading me to move her school at the beginning of Y10 and her being terrified that she'll encounter some of the children involved in the majority of sixth forms in our area (London, so quite a lot).

Yes, she should have applied to more, but her anxiety was off the scale between October and February about the whole process and I was grateful that she ended up applying to any tbh.

She has her heart set on one particular sixth form which is selective inasmuch that it asks for a minimum of five 9-6 grades plus English and maths level 5. My dd's predicted grades met this comfortably.

She has a couple of friends who applied, one of who has received a conditional offer. Dd hasn't heard yet and although I'm encouraging her to wait and see, I'm feeling very, very anxious.

There won't be anything in her attendance/behaviour/reference that would put a school off, so can schools just decide to give some children conditional offers and some not?

And if she's not given an offer, will she at least hear?

TIA

OP posts:
Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 14:58

It's an academy, if that makes a difference.

OP posts:
redskylight · 17/03/2023 15:05

My DC's state sixth form (which is also an academy) tells everyone.
But not until about May.
They also pretty much accept everyone who applies - the only issue might be that your choice of subjects wasn't available, so this might vary if a school had more limited places. Or just by school really.

Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 16:09

Thanks. They said explicitly at the open evening and in the prospectus that they don't organise the timetable until all applications are in to accommodate the various choices that children make.

Also, that they may interview about subject choices, so if a combination isn't available, I would think this would be where this was discussed?

If no-one had heard, I wouldn't be worrying but they have and I am.

So that could be it, she just doesn't hear from them?

OP posts:
tealgate · 17/03/2023 16:34

Just give them a ring, no point in both of you being anxious

Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 16:38

Yeah, I've done that and emailed, though no response...

OP posts:
Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 16:45

When my dd had been refusing to go to school (when she was being bullied and the school were not taking any action), I asked for a meeting to try to work out how to get her back. There were two simple actions they needed to take.

Rather than do this and phone as they said they would, I received an email late on a Friday afternoon offering their full support in my moving my dd to another school.

Obviously, this was incredibly distressing for dd and I don't think I realised until now how distressing it was for me. I keep thinking about it, the waiting and wondering and hoping and then the final rejection of my dd.

I know this is a different situation, but having seen my child casually rejected by a school before (albeit one that she'd been in for three years and never put a foot wrong), having supported her through the months of distress it caused her and seeing how much it impacted her applying for sixth forms, it feels very, very difficult to be facing that again.

OP posts:
Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 18:55

I would be grateful if anyone is able to answer my original question - do state sixth forms let student know if their application is unsuccessful?

TIA

OP posts:
Hersetta427 · 17/03/2023 19:10

honestly I can't imagine a circumstance in which at least a conditional offer isn't made. I am sure lots apply who they no will not meet the reqyired standard but they still get a conditional offer.I think you are overthinking this. Just ask if all thei offers have been sent out - DD so far has only 1 our of 3 offers so far but the schools are transparent with their timelines.

PatriciaHolm · 17/03/2023 19:12

I'm sorry to hear about your previous experience.

In my experience, both DD and DS schools do let applicants know, but only about now, so it's not unsurprising you may not have heard either way. Realistically if she's got the grades, it's very unlikely not to get an offer unless she wants a mad combination!

Fingers crossed for her.

MrsHamlet · 17/03/2023 19:19

Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 18:55

I would be grateful if anyone is able to answer my original question - do state sixth forms let student know if their application is unsuccessful?

TIA

It will depend on the school.
I told someone last week that they were highly unlikely to be offered a place with the grades they were predicted. If they met the offer, they would have a place.

Hersetta427 · 17/03/2023 19:27

MrsHamlet · 17/03/2023 19:19

It will depend on the school.
I told someone last week that they were highly unlikely to be offered a place with the grades they were predicted. If they met the offer, they would have a place.

Show quote history

but thats not a refusal, its a conditional offer which is what every pupil who applies usually gets, just because they are unlikely to acheive the required grades doesn't mean they don't get an offer.

Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 19:27

Thanks all. Yes, I am hugely over-thinking this. I think the last 18 months of stress with dd has caught up with me.

Her predicted grades are good enough, so there's no reason that she won't receive an offer. I think the experience of a member of the SLT in her old school making a unilateral decision that she should leave despite all my attempts to just focus on getting dd back to school is really influencing my perspective on this.

OP posts:
Hersetta427 · 17/03/2023 19:30

Sounds like a fresh start might be the best thing anyway to be honest. Clean slate, new friends, new teachers with no pre-conceived ideas about your DD.

Forestdweller11 · 17/03/2023 19:39

Round here, fairly rural, market towns. There are 5 6th forms within travelling distance. The only specification is that they need 5s or above - Inc maths and English. Encouraged to do A levels in subjects they have gcse's in. All of them will take all those that apply. Absolutely no need to apply now. Nearest one is keen to have numbers buttoned down so they can at least start sorting out a timetable. But they aren't turning anyone away. Proviso being grades.

Postapocalypticcowgirl · 17/03/2023 19:50

Hersetta427 · 17/03/2023 19:10

honestly I can't imagine a circumstance in which at least a conditional offer isn't made. I am sure lots apply who they no will not meet the reqyired standard but they still get a conditional offer.I think you are overthinking this. Just ask if all thei offers have been sent out - DD so far has only 1 our of 3 offers so far but the schools are transparent with their timelines.

My school will be turning applicants away as we are oversubscribed this year for Y12. But we follow clear oversubscription criteria if this is the case. We have an application deadline as well and have made it clear late applications may not be accepted as well.

Because we have to wait for everyone to apply prior to the deadline it can take a while to let people know.

LarkDescending · 17/03/2023 20:21

She will hear back either way. There are state 6th forms in London which are wildly oversubscribed (Woodhouse College being an example) but if she hasn’t applied somewhere like that then it’s likely a conditional offer will be forthcoming, eventually.

keepyrhead · 17/03/2023 20:23

Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 14:17

To cut a long story short, my dd has applied to very few sixth forms due a poorly managed bullying situation leading me to move her school at the beginning of Y10 and her being terrified that she'll encounter some of the children involved in the majority of sixth forms in our area (London, so quite a lot).

Yes, she should have applied to more, but her anxiety was off the scale between October and February about the whole process and I was grateful that she ended up applying to any tbh.

She has her heart set on one particular sixth form which is selective inasmuch that it asks for a minimum of five 9-6 grades plus English and maths level 5. My dd's predicted grades met this comfortably.

She has a couple of friends who applied, one of who has received a conditional offer. Dd hasn't heard yet and although I'm encouraging her to wait and see, I'm feeling very, very anxious.

There won't be anything in her attendance/behaviour/reference that would put a school off, so can schools just decide to give some children conditional offers and some not?

And if she's not given an offer, will she at least hear?

TIA

Have you read their admissions policy? If it is likely to be oversubscribed then the oversubscription criteria are crucial. Most schools will prioritise on distance, but as admissions aren't coordinated, they are likely to give out more conditional offers than there are places available. On enrollment day (after your dd gets her results) they will need to prioritise enrollment according to the criteria, so you can't be certain of a place until then. Even if there is a place, the courses your DD wants to study may be full with internal or higher priority external applicants. That's why it's best to hold multiple offers, with at least one safe bet. Mine has 4 conditional offers, including his own school where he is guaranteed a place.

Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 20:39

The admissions policy just gives the typical offer ie 5 grade 6 to 9s and at least 5s in English and Maths. Doesn't say anything about over-subscription criteria.

I would like my dd to hold multiple offers keepyrhead and I'm sure she would be if she hadn't been so traumatised by her previous school and had actually applied to multiple schools.

Thank you LarkDescending sounds like she will hear back. Although Woodhouse is massively oversubscribed (no it isn't there!), I know lots of children that have gone there with decent but definitely not stellar grades.

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LarkDescending · 17/03/2023 21:46

Oh I agree - you don’t need stellar grades for Woodhouse because that isn’t the basis on which they deal with oversubscription:

All students must meet our minimum grade requirement for their chosen A level programme. Offers are then made to eligible students according to the following priority:

  1. Looked after children.
  2. Students with an EHC plan.
  3. Students who attend one of the College’s partner schools.
  4. Children of current staff.
  5. Other applicants who submit applications within the window.
  6. Late applicants.

You should be able to find comparable oversubscription criteria somewhere on the website of your DD’s target school/college.

SlightlyJaded · 17/03/2023 22:26

DS has four offers - one is his existing school - so a safe bet as long as he hits the grade boundary (which he should), one that is is likely to get into and two that he desperately wants but will probably not get into due to over-subsription criteria - roughly 1000 applicants for 120 places - 80% of which are existing pupils and 20% of which live closer than us. In a way, it's almost worse to have a conditional offer from them as it has made him want it even more.

Having said that, his letter did say things like 'Congratulations - testament to your interview and predicted grades etc' so perhaps they've already turned some away? But I think it's likely you will get a conditional offer as we weren't expecting any of ours to come through. DS hanging on to all four for now...

Ireallydohope · 17/03/2023 22:29

My DD and her friends have applied and been accepted to a selective 6th form.

They now just have to see if their GCSE results are ok otherwise they lose their place.

I've never seen DD revise so hard. Ever.

She's very determined to keep her spot.

keepyrhead · 17/03/2023 22:59

One thing to watch is that sixth forms often send the offer to the student's email address without cc-ing the parents. Some teenagers aren't used to receiving email, and may miss it, or else it may go to their spam folder.

keepyrhead · 17/03/2023 23:03

The admissions policy just gives the typical offer ie 5 grade 6 to 9s and at least 5s in English and Maths. Doesn't say anything about over-subscription criteria.

If it's an 11-18 school (not a sixth form college) they have to have a year 12 admissions policy that meets the national admissions code, with oversubscription criteria, just like in year 7. It should be on the admissions section of their website, or in the policies section.

Onnabugeisha · 17/03/2023 23:13

She should hear either way.
But wanted to mention that the school supporting you to move her to another school due to bullying isn’t rejection of her. Bullying can be almost impossible to stop especially at secondary level. Its easier said than done. Schools know this, parents of bullied DCs discover this. It’s rotten and unfair, but it’s truly the best way to protect your child.

I have had to move my DC to new schools due to bullying and really it is the best thing for them. So I’m not sure why you think the school is rejecting your daughter by supporting you in doing the best thing for her in the situation?

I hope you are not agreeing with your DD or feeding any feelings of rejection she might have? It’s more of a “I’m outta here so I don’t have to put up with your shit” decision. There’s nothing better about sticking around and trying to reform a bully. Best for you to reject them and leave the old school.

Original poster
Shinyredbicycle · 17/03/2023 23:54

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't clear. I moved dd at the beginning of Y10 after the school had turned a blind eye to months of bullying. She was refusing to go to school after their advice to 'ride it through' hadn't worked. I went into school to meet with two of the SLT with a view to making a plan to get her back. There were two simple actions they needed to take, and said that they'd call me later on that day or the next day. Dd wanted to stay at the school, hence my going to a meeting.

Two days later, late on Friday afternoon, I received an email saying that the bullying had all been dealt with at the time and that they encouraged me to move my daughter to move to another school.

The best way to protect my child would have been for the school to acknowledge the bullying and address it, surely? Managing out the victim whose school it had been for three years isn't okay. How do you think it feels to be a 14 year old and the school you have been at for 3 years tells you they want you to leave when you've done nothing wrong? Of course I tried to frame it as 'if a relationship isn't working, you do everything you can to make it work and if that doesn't work, you walk away' but the reality is that she didn't want to walk away. She wanted to stay in her school and for the bullying to be addressed.

Yes, moving her was the right thing to do and I've never regretted it, but having supported her through 18 months of anxiety and trauma I can wholeheartedly say that the best thing to do would have been for the school to actually address the bullying and support the victim.

I did receive a full written apology from the head (after I'd submitted a SAR), but that didn't just undo the harm that was caused to her, I'm afraid.

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