New Admissions Policy question - Farnborough Sixth Form College

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Our local college has changed it's sixth form application process this year, and as a result, prioritises children at seventeen partner schools (including an independent school), even though all those children have other sixth form colleges in their locality. The college has 4,000 students across two years.

Children at non-partner schools, but whom live very locally, only have a two-week period to apply, ending at the start of November. Children at partner schools can apply whenever they like.

My DD applied late, because it is our third application in four years and we did not know the admissions policy had changed (despite attending open evenings etc). It is our fault the application was late, but it feels very unfair that DD is now repeatedly leap-frogged by children who live some distance away, or attend the local independent school. DD is very unlikely to get a place, and now faces a two-hour round trip by public transport to her current school (which she has been doing, but was really looking forward to attending her local college). Her current school does not support one of her A level choices. The allocation process for 'late reserve pool' children is unspecific in terms of dates. I feel she should have the same access to her local college, as other applicants.

There is no appeal process for this new policy, and it seems crazily unfair that DD lost all local options to her from 7th November onwards, whereas children at partner schools can apply to both Farnborough, and their local option.

Is there any ability to challenge sixth form admission policies at all - acknowledging that they are outside the schools admission code ? I have emailed the College and they have politely responded, but basically said it's too bad, that partner schools trump everything and local children don't matter.

2 weeks is an incredibly narrow window.

All the partner schools are within the 10mile catchment and don’t provide a 6th form. It is extremely unlikely that people will be living (very far) out of the 10miles and go to one of these schools. St Nicks is independent but, from what I know, has a very local catchment.

Why is your daughter at a school so far away from where you are living?

All the best sixth form colleges seem to be oversubscribed and have various different ways of handling admissions. You don’t know if you’ve been unsuccessful yet. She may still a place! I don’t see how you can appeal until a decision has been made - when will you hear if she has a place?

My DD applied late, because it is our third application in four years
You have applied to Farnborough College 3 times?!

@Moonlaserbearwolf Presumably for different DC?

Well hopefully she’ll get space in the summer as others firm up their options.
In the meantime could she apply to other colleges? QMC in Basingstoke? Farnham?

It wouldn't be fair for those who have applied on time to be leapfrogged by people who didn't get around to reading the Admissions Policy.

You will have to rely upon others not accepting their offers on time or not enough in her chosen subjects getting the required grades. Or look elsewhere, unfortunately.

I suspect there will be plenty of movement nearer the summer as children and parents make final choices and also after results day when some children don't meet the required grades for Farnborough.

If this is the case and none of the partner schools have sixth form provision then in my oponiont is fair for the young people at those schools to be given preference. Unlike the OPs child, they do not even have the option to stay at their current place of education. OP did not make it clear about feeder schools having no sixth form did he/she!

I don't think this is right. The partner schools people did have a deadline to apply.

I’m not asking for this, we know her application was late, it’s just that she gets put in a ‘late reserve pool’ whereas there isn’t a deadline for all the partner school children, they can keep applying for as long as they like. So it’s unlikely the ‘late reserve pool’ will ever be allocated a place.

Basically, after the 7th November, my daughter doesn’t stand a chance, even though we live walking distance away - because she gets leap frogged by partner school children, even where they live some distance away, and have their own local sixth form colleges.

The partner schools have sixth form colleges in their locality, Woking schools have Woking College, Farnham schools have Farnham College, Yateley schools have theirs etc. All these children can apply to their local colleges AND Farnborough for as long as they like.

After the closing date on 6th November, we had no local option 🤷‍♀️. There is no appeals process and the admissions guidance says that we are very unlikely to receive a place.

We lived in Guildford previously, my daughter gets the train and bus to her state school - she has lots of friends there. My younger son is at a partner school.

I feel for my DD, her school is great, but she was really looking forward to Farnborough as it’s so close.

I understand the emotion around this because 16+ decisions are stressful and important. But the fact that the partner schools don't have sixth forms is key, and it's a very good reason to prioritize those late applicants. They can't stay on at their current school, while your DD. Your proximity would have given your DD priority over them if she had applied on-time, but your family missed the opportunity to take advantage of that priority.

I'm also having a hard time with the idea that this is the only sixth form closer than her current school 2 hours away as well. Is that actually true?

At the end of the day, the deadline was clearly stated and they should follow their written policy. Feel all the feelings with your DD but ultimately this may be a big lesson for a soon-to-be-adult in accepting consequences for our mistakes and making the best of things rather than getting stuck in victim mode.

@AGoingConcern, but why does Farnborough prioritise children who can attend their local sixth form options as I noted above ?

My DD is at a state school, it’s an hour each way by public transport, so not unmanageable, but definitely not her preferred option when Farnborough is great.

I know her application was late, the deadline has been accelerated by over three months compared to her siblings. All we want is for local children to be treated through the late applicant process, which they aren’t.

My dd went there years back and it was always the case that local schools, including some independent schools, got priority if they didn't have a 6th form. There may be more schools now (I know at least one that has closed its 6th form since dd went) but it isn't a new thing.

There were though students from miles away, as hers was a low birth year, and I believe everyone who applied got a place that year. One of her form came in from a train over an hour away.

But what I'd say from experience is that I was unimpressed. The teaching varied, but some subjects (chemistry, I'm looking at you) seemed to be pretty poor across the board. It was hard to impossible to speak to teachers - there were 3 parents' evenings a year, but they only saw students who were struggling, and refused requests.
Dd was fine socially because a large group went from her school, but I know from others that were one of very few from their school, there is no attempt to get them to mix, or ways to help socially, even when parents request it, including for one dc I know who was very much struggling mentally, they were told "if they won't do it for themselves then there's nothing we can do."

So I'd say you've had a lucky escape.

They're partnered with schools that have high levels of deprivation - the sort of students who have multiple disadvantages and barriers to remaining in education.

It would make a change for deprived 16 year olds to get to leapfrog anybody, as they're usually hammered right down to the bottom of the list.

"Children at non-partner schools, but whom live very locally, only have a two-week period to apply, ending at the start of November. Children at partner schools can apply whenever they like."

That's not quite what the admissions policy says though. It says on time applications - both from partner schools and those in a 10 mile radius - are "likely to be offered an interview". Late applications from partner schools "will still be considered for interview" and all other late applications "may be considered".

That's very different to saying children at partner schools can apply whenever they like. The main factor they're distinguishing applications on is timeliness: on time applications from non-partner children have higher priority than late applications from partner children - you could end up with nobody in that second group getting a place if they receive enough on time applications.

I understand why you want it to be that way. For on-time applicants, proximity is the priority. And having a policy that pulled from the late-applicant pool by proximity would totally fine, but that's not the only fair way to structure a late-admissions policy and this college chose a different (equally fair) approach.

For late applicants looking for open places, it's perfectly reasonable to give priority to students from designated schools without sixth forms of their own because just staying where they are if a place doesn't open at Farnbrorough isn't an option for them. It's not unfair or unreasonable, it just doesn't suit your DD well in this situation.

I hope your DD ends up at a sixth form or college that she loves and thrives in, wherever that ends up being.

Thank you for all your replies, I appreciate other people’s views.

@NeverDropYourMooncup Partner schools generally aren’t in deprived areas to be clear, many are outstanding schools in affluent areas, one is independent.

@LittleRedY0shi no late applicants from non-partner schools are considered at all, they are in the ‘late reserve pool’ who have no chance of a place. Farnborough’s website advises that partner school children can continue to apply even now (as well as their local options which have much longer deadlines also).

@AGoingConcern but it’s not an ‘equally fair’ policy, to allow partner school
children to apply for both their local colleges, and give them priority in to Farnborough. I’m not arguing for my DD to have priority or get a place, I’m asking for her to be treated fairly in the late applicant process, when she has no other options.

@DeWe, thanks for your feedback, I do agree that it’s huge and you are right, at the moment she’s decided to stay at her school despite the travel (not that she has much choice) and so at least will be settled. My son did well at Farnborough, but did struggle to make close friends. There are lots of advantages to staying at her current school, which I am reminding her of - she’s just a bit gutted still. Particularly as she submitted her own application, and didn’t spot the changed deadline.

You sound so entitled!

My DS and his friends stayed at his Sixth form, but he could have gone to Farnborough if he wanted to. Most of his year went to Farnborough, some for the same reasons you want your daughter to go there. Why should they stay at sixth form when they don't offer all the courses they want to do.

Basically it's tough, if you just expected to be admitted as you live round the corner.

Other entitled people might say you're taking a place in a school in Guildford but live in Farnborough and you should have moved your daughter's schools when you moved! See how it works.

I’m not arguing for my DD to have priority or get a place, I’m asking for her to be treated fairly in the late applicant process, when she has no other options.

This isn't true, though. She does have another option - she can stay at her current school, and that's an option children from these partner schools don't have. And I'm still dubious that these are the only two schools in an hour's radius that she could have applied for, but that's a bit of a tangent.

I understand your DD is gutted and that's always hard to see as a parent. But this is part of life; we're all going to make mistakes and miss opportunities at some point, and learning to deal with that without either beating ourselves up endlessly or looking for someone else to blame is important. This is (unfortunately) an opportunity to help your DD through that process.

I’ve never seen an admissions policy that only gives local students a two week window, with no late applicant or appeals process, whereas allows a significantly extended deadline to the vast majority of applicants. So yes, I think it’s unreasonable. I’m not expecting or think I’m entitled to a place, I just want a fair chance to access our local college. I know resilience is critical, but it’s tough when it’s such an important cross roads in life.

I guess in the area where we live, it will mostly be military families who are affected too and other families who move in-year, and that definitely feels unfair - at least we do have her current school available, which those families won’t.

Your DD had a fair chance - in fact, she would have been prioritized if she had applied by the same deadline that everyone else was subject to.

This college is heavily oversubscribed, correct? Do you have any idea whether significant numbers of students who apply after the deadline from any school or location end up with a place, or is it possible the focus on what order that happens in is ultimately a red-herring?

Military families and families that have to move late or mid-year are often screwed over by the existing school place allocation system in general, struggling to get into decently performing schools because they're oversubscribed.

@AGoingConcern but it’s not an ‘equally fair’ policy, to allow partner school
children to apply for both their local colleges, and give them priority in to Farnborough. I’m not arguing for my DD to have priority or get a place, I’m asking for her to be treated fairly in the late applicant process, when she has no other options

Your daughter could apply to any of those as well. She is in the same boat as all the other students, except she has a sixth form place already and they don’t. If she had moved schools when you moved (your choice) she wouldn’t be in this position.

Also, she could have applied to Alton College, only 20 by train from aldershot In fact it looks like you still can. https://www.hsdc.ac.uk/apply/ so it isn’t Farnbourgh or an 1 hour commute, you have other options.

How about Yateley Sixth Form?