UCS 6th form

[Parisfashion]

I'd be very grateful if anyone with current pupils at UCS can give me some feedback. My DD has been offered a place at UCS 6th form and two good state schools. Recently I met a high flying boy (based on his GCSE mocks) from UCS who told me that he didn't hand any homework in for a core subject for month with no comeback from the school. I found this hard to believe so asked around and ending up speaking to a parent who confirmed that their child (not a high flyer) also didn’t hand homework in for weeks without any comeback from the school – the parents only found out when it came to the school report. Their son had been allowed to drift in his GCSE studies and struggled to catch up. I’m really taken aback by this. I had heard that students at UCS are required to be self-sufficient and am aware that 6th formers should be self-motivated. However, I view homework being monitored and marked as an absolute basic requirement for any school, particularly one commanding substantial fees. Can anyone offer me any reassurance about UCS 6th form? I’d heard that it was highly regarded (hence my daughter applying) but why is that? Does it offer anything that a good state school doesn’t? And do they make sure homework is done and is marked?

Homework is marked less and less. More and more research is showing that marking is a waste of time and doesn't achieve anything. These days it is more likely that students will assess their own work and take responsibility for it themselves

You're going to be pretty annoyed at any sixth form if you think you'll be getting phone calls or detentions for no homework at A Level. A Levels require a substantial amount of self motivation and independent work outside the class. In that area of N London many kids leave the private sector for sixth form as there's very good state options and the fees make no sense unless your child will be using the other facilities.

UCS is well known for its expectation of individual responsibility, and no doubt it means that some drifty boys don’t reach their potential. Overall, however, their results are stellar. Are you worried that your DD might be a drifter if given the chance? Seems unlikely if she got through their selection process.

Back in the day I went to Westminster as a 6th former. There were some drifty boys there too, some of whom ended up doing resits at crammers. But the vast majority took advantage of the opportunity. The teaching was outstanding. Those who engaged with it did very well indeed. I am sure it’s the same at UCS (which we are strongly considering for DD).

Hi. When you say homework is marked less and less and that the students assess their own work, are you saying that this is specifically UCS's approach. Based on that it seems that the teachers just teach the lessons and that's it. How would a grade 7 student in a subject know how to achieve grade 9 unless the teacher was marking their work. Or how would a student doing a completely new subject benefit from the teacher not marking their work? It all sound really odd to me.

Hi. I'm aware that A levels require students to be self-motivated and independent learners but the state schools were tracking student's progress probably due to an awareness that studies can be derailed e.g by life events like a relationship break up etc. They said that if work seemed to be going downhill they would get the student in to find out what was going on etc and to get things back on track. Am I right in thinking that that sort of thing wouldn't happen at UCS - they're really left to it. if that's the case, it seems ridiculous to pay substantial school fees. Out of interest, when you say 'other facilities' might justify the fees, what sort of thing are you referring to (just in case I'm missing something).

@Parisfashion That's a question you need to ask UCS surely? At the moment you're basing it off hearsay. Tracking is not the same as phone calls home for missing homework. You can be on track and not do homework too.
As for facilities, that's again dependent on your child's needs. Why did you look at UCS? You must've had reasons beyond it just being private and having nice grounds.

We were drawn to UCS because of its good results. Not remotely interested in the grounds. But it didn't occur to me that homework would be dealt with in this way. My daughter is self-motivated but I really don't want her assessing her own work - that's the teacher's job. Good as she is, there is likely always going to be room for improvement, which would be picked up by a teacher, not necessarily herself. Much to think about.

How established is it? Some have been incredibly poor.

This is a cultural thing, most other educations systems in the world don't mark homework, or classwork for that matter, even from junior school upwards. Answers are given in lessons and children mark their own normally. And there are a set number of assignments per year that are handed in for grading.

The UK has traditionally had a culture of marking children's school work, but research shows this is highly inefficient and it is far better for students to assess themselves. In this day and age when all schools are short of teaching staff there is not longer the time available, either.

Some schools still do it, but it is dying out. In my school there is a half termly assessment for each subject, such as an essay, a model, a test paper, etc - this is more normal now. (I teach secondary)

My point is, if you've gone this far in the admissions process than you really need to be asking the school about this hypothetical problem you have. Or reach out to parents. Most schools have this option if you're this far in the process. Surely you've accepted a place and paid a deposit by now?
I don't know why you would only go to UCS for the results. Esp when you've got state options with the same/similar stats. However, that's your own decision which I won't get into.

I have 2 boys at UCS. Homework does get marked. A lot of homework is submitted via Google classroom these days, although fro humanities there is also written homework done in physical books. There is plenty of support for revision techniques and from early in year 10 (year before GCSE exams) the kids get marked according to GCSE grades so they should have an idea of the standard they are producing. All homework is set on Google classroom and actually as a parent you can get a weekly email showing all work outstanding so the info. is immediately available. There are very regular (half-termly I think) tracking grades given, sometimes only to the pupils and they need to do self-reflection of how to improve and put in steps to do this. There is a lot of pastoral support from form tutors to deme heads to lower/middle/sixth form heads. I do not know how sixth form works, but the class sizes are very small and a lot of staff oversight to provide the guidance etc.
This does not mean a disengaged student/family does not fall through the cracks but certainly the system is set up to provide a lot of feedback and engagement.

Hi! Sorry this question is quite off topic to your original point but I was wondering if it would be okay if you could provide some insight on the selection process. My DD is interested in applying and the entrance exam is what we’re most curious about, of course we understand that you can’t revise for it but we’re just wondering what it’s like just so if my DD does choose to apply, she doesn’t walk in blind. More specifically the maths portion of the exam if possible?