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.

The same can be said for private school parents. Trying to convince us they know how state schools work, how applying to 6th form and college works, making out it is lesser than private. Do you really expect us to just take that when we know it's not true?

My dcs have been to both state and private, so I know what works for us and what doesn't, and what I like and don't like about both systems.

It's really not hard to understand how state schools work.

IME, private school is better for some kids, which is why people use them - also not hard to understand.

And that's great. Not every private school parent has experience with state tho but still think they know everything. They carnt possibly. My kid is on track to get all grades between 7-9. Is in an amazing state school, excellent teachers and lots of extracurricular. I doubt he would have done any better in private and I didn't even have to pay for it.

Yes, I hear that a lot on Mumsnet. Maybe we are just unlucky, or don't live in London, but that isn't my experience of state school (excellent extracurricular and amazing teachers). They also finish at 3pm, which is shit if you are a working parent.

maybe, but that will not be WHY she got the offer.

Read the whole policy - you won't get a contextual offer from Bristol just for attending one of those schools for sixth form.

Unless the parents were lying, I know three kids who moved to the local state after private and got contextual offers from Bristol. I actually felt as though I'd made a mistake keeping mine at private school. I know for a fact one got BBC and went to Bristol.

I think Bristol knows full well what it is doing!

Schools like the one you describe serve bright DC with good social skills very well. They are likely to go on to top universities if they want to. For ones who are likely to struggle a bit more academically or socially, private can work better as they are more cosseted there.

And also for those who are extremely academic, they also work very well. They can work well for both types of teen, although the dcs school was definitely more academic and didn't do a huge amount of academic cossetting.

Bristol really does seem to use the school
you are applying from (or your home address, to be eligible under a different criterion) for contextual offers:

We use the 'applying from' school code on your UCAS form to determine the school or college you have attended

Other universities will use different criteria.

Yes state schools can work very well for the extremely academic. My DC prove that point.

I see that 9 pages on, people are still trying to convince me and others that we have misunderstood the Bristol access policy 😁. Believe me, for their increasing access list of schools, there’s no other context other than the name of the state school. The last child I know that got a lower offer lives in a £3m house with their two university educated parents pulling in a seven figure income. No other contextual flag whatsoever …

I believe you!! I've seen it first hand.

All these private school threads are usually dominated by posters that made up their mind about things 15 years ago and just parrot the same old shite on these threads.

Having read the news and seen that the new state policy is to be not to send disruptive pupils out of the class room very much,.I'm bloody glad mine are done with school altogether!

There's limited value in people citing their own individual circumstances because everyone is in a different situation. In an ideal world, no one would feel they need to pay over and above what they already contribute in taxes, but I understand that some people feel they have no good alternative or have a child with specific needs who won't achieve in a maintained school.

That said, I'm really glad we now have a cabinet where the majority attended comprehensive school and I can't disagree with the policy of removing the VAT exemption from fees.

Ultimately, considering about 93% of children attend maintained schools, that's where the focus needs to be, removing inequalities between schools and making the profession attractive for the brightest and best graduates.

I don't live in London either. There are excellent state schools outside of London. 3pm is fine, mine starts at 8.20am so it's a long day. There are extra curricular if they want to. Plus is secondary, at that age surely it doesn't matter if a parent is still at work, they don't need wrap around at that age

Agree it’s pointless to generalise as so child / area specific. I’ve known children who are so happy at private and may have struggled at state but also the other way round a friends cheerful not so academic dd was a bad fit for her rather uptight girls private school and would have been far happier at the local girls
comp as her mum now freely admits. We’re all just trying to do our best in the circumstances as parents with what’s on offer locally

Yes that's true, but we are rural, so they can't get home! There's a bus but not to our village. It seems like a silly reason but it makes the state school inaccessible.

I have never doubted the results side of things at state school - my daughter went to state and most of her cohort went to top unis, with 15 going to Oxbridge. It’s more the extra curriculars that my son is heavily involved in. Not easy to replicate elsewhere. But if you have to let it go you have to let it go.

Yep all should be happy with the choices they make. Thought that was what I had said?

I think the point though (as has been clearly expressed on here) is that sometimes parents feel they have no or very limited choice due to a child's specific needs, or even something as basic as timing of the school day and lack of access to wrap round care or transport.

I wouldn't be happy if I had needed to pay for our children to receive a good education or for reasons of transport after school, I mean we would have done it but not been happy about the decision!

I am surprised that parents want everyone to know that their child got a contextual offer. I would just want to stay quiet about that.
My kids go to a school that used to get a contextual offer from Bristol. Now they have dropped out of the bottom 50% of schools, they don't get it any more. None of the high performing state schools around here would get a contextual offer.
This would mean that private school parents would have to look at low performing schools as their choice of school, and if they do this, then they really will be able to collectively raise the standard of these schools.
From the Bristol website:
You will be eligible for a contextual offer if you apply from an aspiring state school or college. We consider a school or college to be aspiring if it has low average attainment and progression to higher education statistics.

I am good friends with them so they did tell me. The one that got BBC told my daughter who told me.

I am AMAZED that our local state is on the list as its extremely leafy.

Sometimes it’s on where you live rather than school dds friend goes to her school but lives in a trendy town with pockets of deprivation she got a really low contextual offer despite living in a very posh house in said town and parents architects. Dd was most put out friend needed BBB while dd needed AAA!

@Collexifon how long ago was the contextual Bristol offer? I remember seeing a Surrey school I know quite well on their contextual list probably about four years ago and being surprised as it is a very leafy comp. It has been removed from the list now so I think they have been refining a bit in recent years.

@Marchitectmummy - you are spot on.

@Sneezeanddessist - oh please with the veiled implication that private school kids are a bit thick or lacking - 'For ones who are likely to struggle a bit more academically or socially, private can work better as they are more cosseted there'. Many London independents are ferociously academic, with dozens of kids vying for places based on performance in entrance tests and interviews. My DCs school is one of these - and also has many super-bright pupils on full bursaries. (Off topic, but these will probably go as a result of labour's stupid VAT policy).

@EarthlyNightshade - the list of schools for Bristol is extensive, and oddly there are schools in there that are not remotely low performing - Camden Girls being a prime example. Maybe it's something to do with the demographics on the intake at 11plus, but it is surprising for sure.