Anyone heard from Tiffin Boys Sixth Form - interviews?

[Vive42]

DD is keen to go to Tiffin Boys for sixth form.

We found on another forum website that by now, last year, a lot of people were having interviews and had heard from the school.

So far we've received no further communications from Tiffin Boys about DD's application.

Posting here to see if anyone is having interviews and if we should expect a rejection. 😞

For parents whose kids have already got such good grades in GCSE, there is a good case to let them continue with A levels in existing school. Too many comprehensives lose their best students to grammars. So the great results in grammar schools are more a reflection of the selection process rather than the value added by school and it's faculty.
Eventually the outcomes will depend on the inherent aptitude of the kids and their motivation, as well as support from parents at home.
I know many kids in Tiffins and none of them has said that the school faculty has helped them improve. They were tutored by their parents since grade 4 to pass the 11 plus. Now they get pressurised to get higher grades, with those scoring less than 7 threatened to be removed at A levels. So many of them are tutored at home to maintain top grades.
My son has very good predicted grades as well and he hasnt had any extra tutoring outside of school. So I give credit to his teachers and the hard work he puts in. That's why I am no longer discussing Tiffins admission with him, just let him focus on GCSEs. His current school is excellent as well and they would be very happy to retain him in A levels.

"Do they prefer certain ... subject combinations"

It's not a preference for certain subjects, no. It's simply that there are more vacancies for certain subjects. There's nothing wrong with that.

The issue with the policy is the use of predicted grades (which are subjective) and the line in their policy that says "our assessment of' the predicted grades. As far as anyone knows, their "assessment" might include things like their opinion of the reliability of some schools' forecasts over others, opinions about whether predictions are achievable given a child's individual circumstances, etc. It's just not transparent. They're acting like a university admissions department, not a state school.

People always talk about children tutored from year 4 to get into Tiffin.. well the same children that did not get in, were also tutor from year 4 or whatever, and end up somewhere else - I honestly don't get that point?

I have a dd in a state school, not grammar and many of her friends are tutored now that they are in the GCSE years.. I don't think being tutored is unique to grammar schools it's very common across the middle classes.

While there is a very good case for saying at school there are also some advantages to going some new -for instances going to college is much more like university than school is - so much better preparation at being independent. At the end of the day it is a difficult choice and we are all lucky to be able to have it.

Yes, it seems pretty certain from everyone's feedback here that it does down to which subjects they have room for first and foremost. So even with a high set of predicted grades, it isn't necessarily a given for getting an offer. We wouldn't change A level subject choices just to try and get Tiffin though, as we are set on a path for a university course that has specific STEM requirements at A Level - but I concur, that it is certainly worth being open minded to subject choice if going to Tiffin is more of a priority for your child than the exact subject combination. Good luck to all applying, there is still time yet and once the results are out, there's always a final shot at it as some may not take up their place or meet the entry requirements anyway!

Anyone else got the wait pool letter today? I'm wondering how many places will be available in August for science and maths subjects... probably just a couple.

We got the wait pool letter also.

Same as you we’d like all science A Levels.

I can’t imagine things will go any further but we will duly fill out the form on 22 August depending on results and see what happens 🤞

The same for us. Looking at maths too.

Waitlist offer here too... Sciences and Maths also... definitely the toughest A Levels to get onto there it seems, clearly just no spaces available for those subjects!

There seem to be quite a few of us on MN with children in the waiting pool. That’s four of us already!

Are there hundreds in the waiting pool then? I’m sure MN tiffin thread writers make up a fraction of real life people with children who’ve tried also.

Its not looking hopeful is it.

I know three other local kids, one girl and two boys who got the letter, all in our school - not sure if their parents are on MN :)

It's frankly all too subjective... teachers and schools are so different in the way they predict grades (e.g. we have one teacher in our school who won't predict 9s on principle, to keep students motivated. He does predict 8s :)). Tiffin Boys should really consider changing their admission policy and base it on actual grades, like Tiffin Girls does. Send grades in August, rank kids based on that, make firm offers, etc.

On the plus side, my DD was not too disappointed yesterday... she said 'well, at least I'm waitlisted' and went on to practice for her German speaking exam which is today :)

Hi, we also got the waiting pool email. Yes, will be interesting to know how many people usually get in via the waitlist pool? DD's choice is Maths plus 2 humanities

Although my daughter has been waitlisted she won’t be going to Tiffin. She is keen to stay at her school. I can’t actually believe every child who has been offered a place obtained all 9’s in their mocks? My daughter obtained all 8’s and 2 9’s. Yes she was keen to study maths but also French and History 🤔

" I can’t actually believe every child who has been offered a place obtained all 9’s in their mocks?"

They didn't need to. The criteria is predicted grades, not mock grades. (They only ask for the mock grades to help validate the predicted grades).

I believe everyone has received a wait list letter. So in reality,there is no actual waiting list in any sort of order. They will just see if there are any dropouts or under performing applicants after GCSE results and offer up some places based on who has applied with highest actual grades in available subjects.

My son has been asked to go in for an interview tomorrow. He has selected STEM subjects, and received 9's in these for his Mocks and his predicted are 9's in eight subjects and 8's in three subjects.

After the long waiting game I'm feeling quite lucky, and surprised.

Congrats @Trinityb! That's great news for your DS!
Out of interest, are you very close to the school? I am curious to see how much distance feeds into their decisions, as well as their analysis of mock and predicted grades etc.

We live exactly 1 mile away, walking distance, according to google maps and my DS applied to do all STEM subjects (Maths and Sciences) for A levels.

He got 10 x level 9's in his mocks and 1 x level 8 (not in a STEM subject) and is predicted to get the same in his actual GCSEs, with an aspirational 11 x level 9's!

Just trying to get a feel for if it's distance, as much as subject choice, that has had an impact on offers made.

We live around 3 or max 4 miles away, so further than you.

Today wasn't really an interview as such, as soon as we were all there they said that everyone had an offer, subject to meeting the grades. You must have a 9 in Math to be able to do Further Math, minimum 7 for a chosen A level subject, and an average of 8.5 across your top eight subjects.

They said that they had made c120 offers, and 700 were on the waitlist!

On GCSE results day, we must email/call to formally accept the offer, otherwise they will offer places to those on the waitlist.

I'm sorry that you haven't received an offer so far :(

The 8.5 average is only if you request to do 4 A levels, otherwise for three it’s 56 points min entry requirement across 8 best GCSEs as per admissions doc. Grade 7 in all chosen A levels, but 9 for Maths to do further Maths. That’s what they confirmed when I attended 2 weeks ago for a meeting and in their follow up letter.

Our letter also had a surprisingly low requirement for English Lang and Maths at 5!

That shouldn't be too much of a surprise, because it's in the admissions criteria - clause 15.2:
https://tiffinschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Admissions-Policy-2023.pdf

I’m not in the area, but my son has been applying to selective sixth forms near us this year. Are these ‘offers’ guaranteed places if the dc achieves the entry requirements? We found with my eldest a few years ago that the whole process is not so transparent, and there were oversubscription criteria that come into play on results day, as they obviously offer to more than they have places for. And I think the oversubscription criteria is to do with higher grades /average point scores..

How did you find out the grade average being 8.5 for 4 a-levels?

is it in the admissions policy?

They told us when we went in that it was a requirement to have 8.5 average to take 4 A levels

And a 9 in maths to do further marhs. My daughter wasn’t planning to do either, but that was what they said. They seemed open to you changing your mind or deciding nearer the time. Sone try it for a few weeks and drop one.

It did make me wonder why you would put 4 A levels, at this point, unless you really want to do Further Maths, which can only be done as a 4th A level. I would certainly be calling them if the grades were missed was over the choice of doing 4 rather than 3 and the higher grade expectations.