Sixth form options - South East London

[chalkyc2]

It's a while since I thought about looking at schools...DS is about to take his GCSEs in a SE London Independent - VAT plus other things means we need/should have a look around (other independent with scholarship/grammar/state) despite him wanting to stay at current school really.

He's super sporty (hockey/cricket) and science/maths focused. I'm struggling with entrance criteria and any info which sheds light on application and distance criteria which seemed easy to ascertain at 11+!

The none selective state schools just use distance, so any local schools would be a safe bet (as long as he gets a 5+ in English /maths and 6/7 in subjects he wants to do at A level).

The grammars are a good option for a bright child. They just select on average point score- not distance. So if your child is likely to average at least 7+ across his GCSEs, he’d probably get in. Maths A level often requires an entrance test too.

Bexley and Dartford do the IB, so if he’s not an all rounder, these are probably not an option.

The private school scholarships are quite small at 6th form level, so you’d probably only get 10-20% reduction.

Pretty sure the grammars are all about GCSE results rather than distance for 6th form? And think there might be entrance tests too- maybe just ring around. The 11+ tests for Bexley and Kent are about now so don’t want to miss the deadline for any 16+ tests?

Have a look at Kingsdale - superb maths and sports.

They do want 6 GCSEs at grades 7-9 including Maths/English to be considered.

Thanks yes - applications for 16+ seems to be January for state and October for private. I think we're too far from the non selective state (well we certainly were at 11) I'd like for him so will apply for the closest one as a backup.

Bexley Grammars have open evenings in November. His results should be good enough for them.

I keep feeling like there's an option I've missed other than everywhere we looked at 11 but I'm not sure what it is!

Tough decisions ahead.

Kingsdale, Charter North, Prendergast have very good sixth forms. The catchments are much bigger than for year 7 entry, so it’s worth applying.
Chis and Sid gets the best A level results in Bexley. St Olaves is amazing for science, but he’ll need a 8.5+ gcse average.

My DS doesn’t have a sixth form so looking round. Excellent options. Tallis, Prendergast and STAC are on our list. They all have slightly different criteria so you need to look on each website. Also Bexley, DGS, Olave’s. Again different criteria. Bexley undersubscrbed. DGS uses proximity. Olave’s ranks. I spent quite a while looking at it. Good luck!

FYI interestingly with the exception of Olave’s grammars and comps I mentioned are getting equivalent numbers to Oxbridge. Only one measure but an interesting one. I have concluded that in terms of results grammars aren’t adding much post 16. Unless they offer something else you are interested in, ie IB or extra curricular.

No tests. Some v easy to get into Bexley for example as undersubscribed. DGS is proximity. You really have to look school by school.

What about Harris Westminster? It’s a sixth form college so everyone is new which sounds like a good idea?

Have you spoken to his current school about any help with the fees? If you are looking at Harris Westminster, check out the sporting offer as the sixth form is just by St James Park tube. When we looked at St Olaves it looked to be strong on sport, but like your son, our DS didn’t want to move schools. You could also consider the specialist state maths sixth forms such as Imperial College in Barnet.

Bexley Grammar does IB only at Sixth Form but they got 5 kids achieving 45 points last year, I think, which is amazing! Only 0.45% worldwide achieve that! IB basically puts people off but it is a great way to get into a good school like that, for an all-rounder. It is more work though.

The usual suspects are great - like St Olave’s, King’s Maths School, Harris Westminster. If your DC does well at GCSE you should get a place, but you need to figure out how to give notice. Whether to just do it at Christmas and if your DC can cope with that, knowing he might leave, extra pressure to achieve etc. You will need a good local comp back-up too.

However, if your DS wants to stay at his school and you can just about afford it, I am not sure it is worth unsettling him? Unless he is also a little bit unhappy? Are the school piling on the GCSE pressure right now?

If you're worried about options you've missed have you thought about any of the girls schools that are co-ed for sixth form? They won't have been on your radar at 11. Unlikely to give you much in the way of sporting options I'd imagine though as not a big pool of boys to draw on!

That's a good point about girls schools - I think Newstead takes boys in the sixth form! However yes the sports/extra curricular is unlikely to be attractive for him. I actually think that's the main thing lacking elsewhere particularly when the sports are a bit niche.

Does anyone know if Langley boys catchment expands at sixth form? It's the only state school other than some of the grammars deeper into Kent I think that plays boys hockey!

If Judd is not too far and your DS has outstanding GCSEs, it sounds like the best fit to me. They take 75 externals and it is superselective.

Maybe also worth looking at Kingsdale at Sixth Form. Alex Yee went to Kingsdale for a bit. That might interest your DS.

Langley Boys has lower entry thresholds than the grammars at Sixth Form so the catchment will be smaller. The higher the entry threshold, the bigger the catchment. This coming year nobody can predict anything for sure due to the VAT on private schools.