State 6th form schools / colleges - Kingston & Richmond upon Thames area

[Juen]

My daughter will need to apply for Sixth Form schools / colleges for entry next September. She is attending school in Kingston upon Thames but she does not want to stay in the same school after GCSE. She is keen to continue pursuing Art & Design Technology as subjects for her A level. Does anyone know what state schools or colleges are good in this area where it is travellable from Kingston?

Yes Esher College, did you go to the information evening yesterday? Make sure you check the closing date for registration as it will be this September.

The BRIT School is a specialist art, music, dance, theatre school in Croydon. State school. Would be to apply in autumn term to start the following September. Very competitive to get into. Visual Art and design (VAD) is the department that specialises in art

Not exactly close to Kingston or Richmond.

I know dc who travel from Kingston to the Brit school from age 14 via train but I don't think they offer A level art.

I just checked, BRIT school does not offer design technology at A level, they specialise more in performance art.

Esher College is a popular choice for a number of students from Kingston. My daughter did not manage to attend the Open Day as she had an Art exam that day. I heard that it has good atmosphere, but they only offer Art subject, not Design Technology.

@Juen , Esher offers 3D and graphic design A level, does she mean the DT A level offered by Tiffin girls? You need to go through the A level offerings of each school / college and look at the syllabus of each to work out what she wants to study at a level and how few schools offer it etc.
I know ifs difficult when she is so young but if you miss the registration dates this autumn, especially the sept cut off for Esher college then she can't go there but if you apply and get a place she can withdraw at any point up until Sept 24. You can apply to more than 1 sixth form.

Students travel.from all over London to attend BRIT. It's mostly a sixth form college with a focus on Art and theatre. Look up the VAD department. It's all art based for 2 years of year 12 & 13. The course is a UAL level 3, equivalent to 3 A levels. I know at least 5 kids who commute to BRIT from Kingston / Raynes Park and one who commutes from Windsor

@tennissquare Thank you for the information on deadline. I have looked at courses at each school and college, the two courses mentioned in Esher are not quite what my daughter wants, but may be worth applying just in case there are no other suitable courses. The closest I have seen so far is the "Product Design" offered by Coombe. There may be others that I may not have come across yet.
@ChocolateHelps thank you, I will have another look.

Best of luck, its worth considering that there is a chronic shortage of DT teachers so a school can pull a course nearer the time if the current teacher leaves and they can't recruit a replacement.
Definitely apply to Esher college anyway because their DT Art Textiles is really strong, keep an eye out for their A level results when they are published in the autumn.

@tennissquare thank you. I am aware how difficult it is for state school to have good DT teacher as my boy was in Tiffin doing DT A level, it was even difficult for them to recruit good DT teachers. My daughter is currently taking DT at GCSE level and school has difficulty retaining the teachers.