GSAL or Bootham for sixth form?

[Wolffie17]

Wondering if anyone has recent experience of sixth form at the Grammar School at Leeds and Bootham School in York? We like both schools for different reasons but if we could combine aspects of them both that would be perfect! Specifically we are wondering:

• How academically ambitious is Bootham, and how pressured is GSAL? My daughter is very academic and wants to be stretched, but we would rather this was done in a 'curious about learning' way rather than a 'this will get you an A*' way if that makes sense. She is a keen linguist so any insight into the languages department at either school would be great.
• How lively is the social life at either school? My daughter would very much like to have a bit of a laugh and go to some parties after being rather starved of a social life so far (has struggled with friendships at her current school).

Thanks in advance!

Wolffie, we are in a similar situation right now. How did your DC end up deciding? and in retrospect, are you happy with the decision?

We went for Bootham in the end after visiting both a couple of times. Love the more relaxed vibe plus the location is amazing and means sixth form will feel like a taste of adult life with more freedoms than GSAL could offer simply due to location. She’s not there yet (starts in September) but we are feeling very optimistic.

That is lovely, and thanks for answering.

We picked the same way.
Sounds like our DCs will meet at Bootham this September. Different fields of study, but thankfully the place is small enough for all college-1 (year 12) to know each other.