Are more of you planning to move your DC from private to state for 6th form now?

[WomensRightsRenegade]

Apologies but just wondering this? My son is going into year 10 at a school he loves, but we are realising that even with a generous bursary, the 20pc VAT will mean it’s impossible for him to stay for 6th form.

I know it’s a transition phase anyway, but he will be very upset to leave as historically not many kids at the school have left then.

Any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

Perhaps in a city desperately short of acceptable student accommodation, AAA students who can live at home and won't need digs, is the appeal.

In which case, Bristol would only partner with local schools for widening participation (which it does, it has a guaranteed offer or guaranteed interview programme for local students).

The issue with Bristol is its lists of ‘aspiring schools’ which have some strange inclusions, resulting in students being eligible for contextual offers that really shouldn’t be.

If you go to one of those schools, you are eligible to be considered for a contextual offer from Bristol. But for GCSE, not A level. And not on its own.

That can’t be the case either, because it includes 6th Form colleges and you have to be applying from the school on the list (You will be eligible for a contextual offer if you apply from an aspiring state school or college), so it’s where you are taking A levels, not where you studied for your GCSEs.

I still haven’t worked out why a local school wasn’t on the 2023 list but appears on the 2024 list - it doesn’t have a Sixth Form or offer A levels so you can’t apply to Bristol from it.

Sorry I misread the original post. Many law firms still judge applicants on which establishment they went to.

Which industry?

Actually, it’s going the other way in the USA now. DEI is being curtailed, though well intended, it’s been found to nit work out the way everyone hoped.

just a quick google:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/corporate-america-slashing-dei-workers-amid-backlash-diversity/story?id=100477952

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/14/us/colleges-diversity-equity-inclusion-higher-education-cec/index.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-01/why-companies-are-scaling-back-dei-in-america

How did they get in in the first place?

From Hampshire's CC's web site.

Eligibility for transport assistance to a mainstream school
Your child must meet all the criteria to be eligible for transport assistance

1. Be of compulsory school age

Compulsory school age is the term following your child's fifth birthday until the end of the school year in which they turn 16 years of age.

@combinationpadlock We've just given up DS' place at Peter Symonds because HCC cancelled the bus service (and informed us on July 4th - thanks for the notice, guys) and I'm a single mum, I need to work. I can't be around to drive him there every morning.

So private education it is........!

Quite. I think the not so veiled dig here is that they were tutored through the entrance exam, unlike the state kids, who all bloomed with natural intelligence and resilience.

Let's hope Labour also sort school transport out. It's shocking that some families feel they have no option but to pay for private school because their child can't get to and from school otherwise

no. education is compulsory to 18

They absolutely can get transport

Oh dear.

No it isn't. Young people have to be in training, education or work.

HCC's approach is simply that DS can leave school and get a job. When I rang the Education department at HCC and asked them about alternative options for A'levels, they told me they weren't responsible for post-16 education, that they didn't have a list of providers and that 'I should Google'.

And you wonder why people are angry about VAT on private education. For some of us there is literally no choice. 😡

Of course there is a choice - there isn't a single child in the country that does not have an option of STATE sixth form education, you are creating a non existent issue

Apart from anything else, you say the school bus doesn't go all the way home, well, that can easily be changed, but even if you don't get it changed then the cost of a taxi to and from the bus stop would be a FRACTION of the cost of a private education - not that anyone has to pay for a taxi, but this is just to illustrate how stupid your argument is.

HAVE TO go to private school because the bus doesn't go all the way home - no you don't

Tell us where you live, and we will be able to tell you how to get to school, I GUARANTEE it (but actually, I don't recommend you putting that on a public board, but if you did, I guarantee we could tell you how to get to a state school for sixth form)

Of course there is a choice - there isn't a single child in the country that does not have an option of STATE sixth form education, you are creating a non existent issue

And what happens if your nearest state schools don’t offer the A level mix that want to study? Say, you’re a gifted mathematician and want / need to study FM and it’s not available locally?

That’s not a non existent problem?

Nobody has to study FM. Of course there are always going to be options that are not available locally. My school doesn't offer German. A neighbouring school does not offer Mandarin etc. But people are claiming they can't use state sixth forms, but of course they can.

If you are desperate for a subject that you can't do for A level, then pick it up at uni. That is what people do

Do you live in Hampshire? Are you aware of a 6th form that provides A'levels in Maths, Physics and DT apart from Peter Symonds? Because believe me we've tried everything. I'd be delighted if you could find it and resolve the issue, because the entire Education department at Hampshire County Council couldn't.

Hampshire does not provide transport (even if I pay for it) for 16-18yos. They have centred their 6th form provision for the north of the county around Peter Symonds in Winchester and have cancelled the local bus service (in July for God's sake). I know of a number of families desperately trying to cobble together a rota/shared taxi to get their children there. I am not the only one

Don’t be silly. It’s incredibly difficult to prep for STEP if you haven’t studied FM.

So now you are changing what you are saying.

Your child can get to sixth form, that isn't an issue - even though you have been saying that it is.

Your child wants a specific combination of A levels - that is a completely different issue - and yes, you can go through a state sixth form and go on to whatever further study you wish, regardless of what A levels are on offer.

You are choosing to pay for an independent school because you want to. Fine, but own it.

You don't HAVE to pay for independent. You have state sixth form options. You are CHOOSING to

And you wonder why people are angry about VAT on private education. For some of us there is literally no choice. 😡
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This comment wasn't directed at me, but yes I totally get why someone would be angry about it if they're in the unfortunate position to have no choice. Even with the dire transport situation there are people who could use state provision during compulsory school age and then switch, but choose private right through.

But let's not be disingenuous here - most people who pay for private school aren't in these dire situations where there's no transport. Most people are making a choice - obviously they believe it's the right choice for their kid - but it's still a choice.

I cannot disagree with the policy of removing the VAT exemption. But I can understand why on an individual basis it's very upsetting for some, but that's a teeny percentage of the school population

@combinationpadlock No, we had a place at PSC as did others. That was our choice and we had been accepted. Then they cancelled the bus service in July, after all state school admissions had closed leaving us with no way to get our children to school. No alternative was offered or suggested.

Education is not compulsory to 18. Assisted travel is not available for those between 16-18, at least not in Hampshire. You clearly don't live in Hampshire or rurally, and don't realise the difficulties faced.

Whichever way you look at it, it's shit and you know it.

?? You are joking, right? 😄🙏
Many children in superselective grammars are tutored from the 11+ till A levels.

but what have you done about it?

Incidentally my home is a hamlet, not even a village, and no public bus service at all. All children go on school transport, to wherever. Choices are not limited by current service, you decide where you are going and the service is made.

What have you done about the bus service being cancelled? Run your own bus service and charge it to the council, if there is that many of you. Or get it reinstated.

You have options other than private. I don't actually think you WANT options rather than private - you just want to go private - that is up to you, but don't pretend it is due to lack of options

(I do actually know a school bus driver in Hampshire, he does take sixth formers, he does vary his route each year depending on who is going where - I believe he is private, but the council pays)

I too have just had a look at that Bristol list and it’s rather surprising to say the least!

I know one of the sixth form colleges listed and it takes a significant number of ex-private school pupils - but then again it also takes pupils from a wide range of other schools (including from a nearby disadvantaged area) so I guess that’s the rationale. Better to be universal in the hope that some disadvantaged students will get in than put in a lot of screening that might become barriers.