Cherwell Sixth Form?

[mrjane]

Is this a good sixth form to send my son to? I have applied for it but applied a day late, on the 19th of Feb. Is it not worth waiting for as the waiting list is probably insane?!

It's my sons first choice and he wont stop nagging me about it - any info on the school?

it's a big school with a big (good) reputation.
Very mixed socially and academically.
strong music dept.
Not convinced by the academics, I think the kids have to be very self motivated.

This is all hearsay from friends with kids there by the way.

Hearsay says they have large class sizes and that their maximum is larger than other local schools. That's all I've heard. It does get great results but tends to draw from a higher-attaining pool of students from across the city, both state and private. They don't do any BTECs.

If you had to guess, would he have a chance of getting a spot? We live around 5 minutes away (by foot), and applied a day late. Not sure about the length of the waiting list and how many apps they had. My son was planning on doing all A-levels so it'll be a good choice for him - but we're also looking elsewhere.

Honestly, your best bet is to contact the school and ask about the late application. They may chuckle and say it's fine, they may put him at the bottom of the stack, who knows? I think they do offer a spot to anyone who fulfils the entry requirements though, hence the large classes.

Sent in the app on 18th of Feb, don't think we're going to be hearing back to be honest.. Was worth a try though

I had DC at Cherwell and my opinion is that its strong reputation is largely undeserved. There are sizeable issues with antisocial behaviour and drugs, and several children I know (mainly girls) say they feel unsafe there. Their exam results are skewed by the fact that, because the catchment covers wealthy north Oxford (largely inhabited by academics and other successful professionals), a large proportion of their pupils receive private tuition. Obviously the children of wealthy, educated parents are also likely to do well academically so results are not just a reflection of Cherwell's teaching (which IMO is average), but of its catchment. In fairness I know other parents who are happy with it, but I believe this is partly due to the fact it's known as the 'nice' middle class secondary, so there's a real collective will to endorse it among some of the parents who choose it - all very Emperor's New Clothes.

My DC both went there. It’s an excellent school and the 6th form is superb. Neither of my kids had private tuition and did well (A’s, A*’s) as did all their friends (and none of them had private tuition). They motivate the kids really well and there is mutual respect of teachers/pupils.
I’ve never heard of any safety issues in the 13 years my kids were there.

I am glad some people have had a good experience there. As I said, I know families who were also happy with it but sadly this was not our experience, or that of several others I've spoken to over the years. As/A*s are easy to come by in a catchment that houses many Oxford academics and other highly educated, successful people invested in their children's education, but I would encourage prospective parents to ask around about behaviour/bullying/drugs at this particular school among local people. Undoubtedly this is less of a problem at sixth form, which is selective. IME more and more parents in or near the Cherwell catchment are now opting for the Swan School nearby (part of the same Trust, but very diverse and a more structured, nurturing environment). Again, it's not for everyone as not all kids cope well with rules, uniform, etc and that's fair enough, but it's good that many families can now choose between the two and I wish we'd had this option to begin with.

My experience is as @Itsbaloney says, children that get good results without needing private tutors. Yes, that may be because all the children I knew came from families with educated, supportive parents who would have been successful whatever school they went to, but that's the majority of the intake. It's a few years since my children left, but never had any safety concerns.
I don't know if that many families in catchment are actively choosing the Swan over Cherwell, but the Swan has places left to take children from out of catchment every year.