Any experience of Kings Maths School vs LAE for 6th form?

[JusteanBiscuits]

My son has applied to KCLMS for 6th form and also to LAE Stratford.

He wants to study Maths at University, and truly loves the subject. His heart is set on KCLMS, but as that is entirely maths / physics, I wonder if going to LAE (his second choice) would be better for the all round experience? Meeting a wider variety of people, a much wider selection of extra curricular clubs etc. I worry the excitement at 16 of being immersed in maths might wear off, and being somewhere with a wider curriculum might be better?

Any experience would be appreciated. Thanks

Email received!! He received a conditional offer 😍Now just need to get the grades!!

Wishing good news for everyone else too 🙌

I tried to find this recording but I can't see it on the website 🤷🏼‍♀️

Did he receive it or you?

Both of us, like the notification for the Interview.

Ah. Waiting list place :(

He's pretty gutted bless him. Wish they'd provide feedback on why he hasn't had an offer..

Interestingly the letter says 70 places not the 100-120 places the open evening said.

Would be good know whether he scored poorly or whether it was the widening participation score that counted against him.

I didn't receive one for interview, only he did! And only he has received this email.

My son rejected too. Well done to students with offers!

That's so tough. I hope those with waitlist or firm No's are okay.

My son's best friend got to interview and then a rejection today so he's really disappointed for him.

Hopefully others have LAE/NCS or Cambridge type places still in the mix?

My son didn't apply to any of them because his other grades aren't as high, so it was really Kings or our local college for him.

We've got LAE in the mix. But if it's widening participation that marked my son down, we haven't a hope of LAE. He applied for those two and the 6th form of the school he is at as everything else was a longer commute than we were willing to consider. He has predicted 9's across the board after the latest results round of mocks but is so passionate about maths it was the lure of the research with the university that made him want KCLMS.

He is also on COMPOS which was tough to get into, so we did get our hopes up for KCLMS. I am going to email for more information re waitlist as it says you can be offered a place right up till 1st October 🤷‍♀️ and ask why the change in numbers being accepted from what they said at open evening as it's a bit strange!

It wouldn't surprise me if email was just repeat of previous year not updated for increased intake. Policies on website eg admissions policy state 2025 then later 2023, course info state different things on different pages.

Does anyone know if/ how LAE interview? I think vaguely recall something about a group call (zoom?). Is that right?

@Justean, my DS will never get in on the widening criteria but he may get in on his grades, like yours. They do offer some ridiculous grade offers, which very few are capable of.

I'm still on the fence anyway about his current school. Is it better to be a big fish in a small pond! Or a small fish in a big pond! How current school aim to get 1 or into Oxbridge every year and I think he would be really pushed and encouraged whereas at LAE he may just be one of many, and one whose extra curriculars are not standout - so I'm not sure he'd have the focus he'd get where he is currently is.

Thanks for your reply and others too which are quite reassuring re: safety.

I grew up in a tough part of London and had some very scary run ins with other kids in my early to mid-teens so it's something I'm acutely aware of. In contrast. DS has grown up in an affluent and safe small town and isn't particularly streetwise.

There are multiple potential routes for travelling to the school combining car/train/tube with Lambeth North probably the easiest end destination for him.

But the logistics and commuting is a major factor he will have to consider if he wants to go to the school rather than stay where he is.

DS got a conditional offer and yes, the email did say only 70 places.

I have read that there have been delays to expansion or opening of some of the maths schools. Notably Durham and Nottingham have already been delayed a year and may now not open at all in 2026 due to a review of certain academy schools by the Department of Education.

IIRC the expansion of Kings to 100-120 places was dependent on the GP practice vacating the building which the school would take on after refurbishment. The surgery has already had two one year extensions but I believe was given final notice to leave.

Maybe there has been some complication/delay again?

The large GP practice (which used to be a teaching practice for Kings Medical School) was evicted some time ago but has failed to find alternative premises. At the moment they are squatting in a few rooms in another NHS building on the outskirts of Brixton, two buses and a dodgy walk away. I think they are borrowing a single room for another practice nearby so they can have some face to face consultations.

This is causing real problems in an area with a high elderly and immigrant population, with plenty of deprivation and where virtually no one has a car. They used to have all sorts of support clinics; mother and baby, addiction etc, which I guess have gone. There is genuine local concern including from the GP, and I assume St Thomas are fed up of the extra load on A&E. It is a real pain, though perhaps indicative of where the NHS is going.

I would not be surprised if at planning there is resistance to a change of use. Local people, inevitably will argue that a GP is more important than a maths school. Perhaps the planning committee are dragging their heels over a change of use application. I don’t know but would not be surprised.

....from the MP.....

I'm wondering, if son really has his heart set on KCLMS, could he reapply next year? We've not heard a word from LAES, but if he didn't get an offer from KCLMS I can't see him getting one from LAE either unfortunately.

You'd need to ask the school what their policy is on accepting students outside of their chronological age group. State secondary schools have to include information about this in their admissions policies, but KCLMS is a sixth form college, so it doesn't have to follow the Schools Admissions Code.

What would he do in the gap year? Universities don't like maths students to have gap years unless they're doing something heavily maths-focussed.

Also, what makes you think he is more likely to get in next year?

He would go to local 6th form - but it's the extended maths stuff he really really wants from KCLMS! He is on "waitlist" this year, this is there are more places next year I think he would have a very good chance of getting a place. They don't offer feedback on where he fell down though - but he found the maths part of interview easy, and generally speaks well with adults (he volunteers as a sports coach so is used to speaking to people) - but obviously something went wrong somewhere!!

So you mean he would start year 12 at a local sixth form then drop out to re-start year 12 at KCLMS? Or do you mean he would apply to go into year 13?

There are maths programmes he can engage with outside of school - maybe he should look at those.

No idea really - it was a thought we had whilst chatting last week. He has been on COMPOS for year 11, and has a guaranteed place for years 12 and 13, so is doing extended maths already. For him it's not about the chance to get better a-level results, it's about being immersed in his one true love! Like, we have a friend who's kid has a deep love of basketball and has got a place at a basketball academy for 6th form - this would be my sons version!

KCLMS was founded to give extended maths opportunities to students that might not otherwise get them, so your son may not be in their target demographic.

The admissions policy doesn't mention in-year admissions. It does say they only keep their waiting list open until 1st October, which implies the door is closed after that.

I feel for you @JusteanBiscuits . My son has been several years ahead of his peers at maths since he was at primary school. His secondary school has promised several things to support his advanced maths development but little of it has panned out. This was the main reason he applied to the maths schools.

Some of the things you could look at include the UK Maths Trust which publishes resources and also has a mentoring scheme (the Cambridge Maths school recommended this to us.)

Cambridge University which partners with its maths school also supports and funds the nrich programme (www.nrich.maths.org).

The Advanced Mathematics Support Programme is a government-funded initiative that supports enrichment of maths at all ages up to A level and includes problem solving classes etc.

Kings Maths School itself runs several outreach activities for 16 plus.

If you are not short of money, there are several organisations that run mini-camps during the school holidays that are STEM orientated. These often run at Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial College.

These are just the ones I can remember off the top of my head but if you search online, I'm sure you can find plenty of maths enrichment options.

PROMYS Europe – Program in Mathematics for Young Scientists might be of interest - deadline is soon though

Oh, I know that. But it is vastly superior to any other opportunity he could have elsewhere, and I support my sons dream in what ever way I can. As I've said before, I didn't even stay at school for a-levels (only 10% of my school year did), so this is a whole new world for me that I have zero experience of. I had no opportunities, and so am keen for my son to have any that he can!! I just want to support him any way I can to follow his dreams I guess. Through sheer luck, he has ended up at a school with high progress 8 scores (when we moved here it was a school with a poor reputation, but has been turned round in the last 10 years by new leadership), and we live in a very average area, not particularly wealthy area but also not large areas of poverty either. We're just, well, very average!