Application to 6th form rejected due to social anxiety

[JT619]

Hi,

Can anyone give us some advice please?

My son really struggled during lockdown as many did. He went from a bright student to struggling to attend lessons. However we pushed through, and with lots and lots of hard work he did at home himself, he managed to achieve 8 GCSE passes.

He then strugged to make it into 6th form. He tried, but the same problems reared their head. And so we decided to take a year out to sort out the social anxiety problems.

In the past year he's done really well. Re-connected with society, had therapy, and has taken on various volunteering jobs, one of which was actually working in a local school in classrooms to put his dislike of classrooms behind him.

We've applied for a different Sixth Form this year. The one he really wanted him to go had an interview day in March. We worked with the support team, who say they recommended he should be allowed to join but with a 6-week care package in-place. They passed that on to the admissions team, who duly rejected his application!

We're gutted and a bit angry. He's trying to put his struggles behind him. But also confused - how can it be that the student support team gave him the thumbs up, he has the required grades and yet he's been rejected?

We're going to appeal, but are wondering where we stand with this? It seems to me to be almost discrimnatory - social anxiety is classed as a disability, he has the grades and he's been turned down due to his disability.

Any thoughts or help would be really useful. The college usefully took 4 months to decide this (and didn't ask for any extra informstion in the meantime) and only let us know yesterday so other college options are looking limited at this late-ish stage. Thanks in advance.

JT619

Have you asked why he's been rejected? Did he have a good reference/personal statement? What grades exactly did he need?

You sound like really lovely and supportive parents.

EHCP?

DD missed y11 due to MH, when she started college it became clear she wasn't coping and we applied for and got an EHCP to help support her.

What grades were his GCSEs?

Definitely go down the discrimination route, he deserves a place and they're clearly saying no because of his anxiety.

Did he get the required grades for admission? Even if he did, they can't take all applicants.

This sounds irregular. Has the school put its reasons for refusing your son’s application in writing?

Assuming you’re in England, the school admissions code sets out the statutory guidance on sixth form admissions (para 2.6). Presumably, the school has concerns about whether it can meet your son’s needs, but that’s not within the scope of the admissions code; places can be refused only on grounds of not meeting the entry requirement or oversubscription.

The grades needed for the course were 4 GCSEs grade 4 or above . He got 1 x 5, 4 x 6s and 3 x 7s. So he's way above what's needed academically.

The email we were sent was very unspecific, and just stated 'based on concerns regarding your performance at your induction day and interview.

It gets a bit interesting here.

The interview itself went well he says. They were really impressed with the steps he'd taken and the volunteering work, and were talking as though a place would be offered, explaining the support that would be in-place.

The 'induction day' was basically taking a child with social anxiety and throwing him into an established class. He had a chaperone with him so already felt singled out and conspicuous. The class in question was a 'massage class' of all tings, complete with practical demos! Unsurprisingly he struggled a bit with that and asked to leave after a while. I assume that's where the issue was, but you really couldn't have designed a less appropriate session for someone with social anxiety (where the advice is to gradually increase exposure to situations). Social anxiety is classed as a disability.

He’s not going to want to go there now even if they change their minds. What else is available?

He sees the bigger picture. He'd be joining a new class, in the same boat as everyone else. And is interested in the course. Admissions dept aside, it's a really nice college so he'd still like to go.

He's also in a much better place mentally 4 months on since his interview day. I'm a bit confused why it's taken 4 months, during taht time no-one has asked for any further information and we've been trying to get a decision throughout.

Hmm. To me, that looks like a clear contravention of the provision in para 2.6 of the admissions code that “meetings held to discuss options and courses must not form part of the decision making process”. I would regard an induction day as a “meeting” for the purposes of that paragraph. I’ve never before heard of an induction day being used as a pass/fail assessment; inviting any student to an induction day implies they have been accepted and will be attending.

I suggest you press the college now - pointing out the contravention of the admissions code and the resulting disability discrimination - and, if they don’t budge, take it to appeal.

What course is he applying for that his induction day was a massage class? That sounds completely bizarre.

I was just going to ask... Is this actually on the curriculum?

Agree with @PanelChair. The process they have followed here feels like a breach of the Admissions Code.

Is this a mainstream state school/college? Or is it a private school or special school?

The whole thing sounds very unusual, but it's hard to advise without knowing what type of school it is.

If it's a state school, they can't reject on the basis of interview etc- but I guess they could say they are unable to meet his needs?

This has some useful advice
https://childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/disability-discrimination-in-education/

Is the course oversubscribed or have they refused him a place despite having room for him on the course? I think that would be the first thing you need to find out as whether they were reasonable to not give him a place on that. Ultimately if there are more applicants than places some of the applicants are going to have to be refused and be disappointed and if your son struggled on the trial day compared to other applicants then it’s understandable why they were offered places over him. Obviously he shouldn’t be discriminated against due to his disability, but equally he shouldn’t be automatically given a place over other more suited candidates either.

I’m also curious as to whether the massage class actually relevant to the course he’s applied to? If so and he struggled with it even with the support of a chaperon in place I can see why the course may be concerned about how he will manage with this element of it, they want to ensure they are filling the course with students who not drop out and so if they have more applicants than places they are reasonable to choose students who don’t find aspects of the course difficult. If he struggles with massage and found it overwhelming I’d question why he is choosing a course with this as part of it? If massage was a totally unrelated class and not something he needs to do as part of his course though I would definitely be challenging how they can determine his suitability to his course through a completely unrelated activity which he won’t need to do as part of the actual cours.

The college is a state college.

They haven't stated they can't support his needs. In fact they have told us verbally they can, and would have put a 6-week package in place when he begins.

The direct quote from the very brief letter is:

"It is with regret that, based on concerns regarding your performance at your induction day and interview, we have decided we are unable to offer you a place. "

That's all we have.

It's a sports course, so I think that's why they were doing massage.

Also, reading your OP, are you able to clarify how old he is? Is he 17 or 18?

I may be wrong, but I believe there's a bit more leway around FE colleges rejecting students who would be 18 when they start the course- unless there's an ECHP in place?

So- he’s now 18? Or did I read that incorrectly?
Many colleges have different policies regarding older students joining.
To be honest, it doesn’t sound like that college would be a good fit. Sometimes FE colleges are more inclusive.

He'll be 17 when the course begins in September. He turns 18 in October.

How much in the way of reasonable adjustments can they make for your son, op, when he clearly struggles with such basic physical elements of it?

They sound awful, but I'd not want my son there in those circumstances and would look for somewhere inclusive. 💐

Okay, this isn't allowed for a mainstream state college- they aren't allowed to use interviews as part of the selection process, only to advise about course choices etc.

I would follow @PanelChair 's advice.

BTW, it's all very well people saying that you should find a different college, but I know that's not always easy- rurally people may only have one or two options. And there's not that much time left before September- so many alternative courses will be full.

It can be much harder to start a new qualification once you're 18.

Honestly, allowing a sixth form student with anxiety to leave the room when they feel uncomfortable is well within the scope of what most schools offer students! Unlike a younger student, he doesn't need to be supervised, necessarily, so it's relatively easy to manage!