Sixth form admissions - talk to me like I'm an alien please!

[WYorksTemp]

DC in Year 11, we've been looking at various sixth form options and are going/have been to several open days. Have narrowed it down to 3 - two sixth form colleges and one school-linked sixth form. All are within easy reach by public transport but are not our closest sixth form school (we don't like that one at all).

Obviously DC will be following the application processes for each sixth form and we have looked closely at the published admissions criteria, but I am clueless about the kind of "unsaid" stuff.

E.g.
How much importance is placed on the personal statements that they have to write in the applications? Are applicants expected to have lots of extracurricular stuff?
What is likely to be expected at interview? Will they be questioned about their proposed subjects?
One college has an entrance exam. I read some previous threads suggesting that some colleges will have contextual offers so that doing well on the exam may not lead to an offer?
Most of all - is 3 options too few? Looking at the admissions criteria coupled with the extreme demand for the 3 options, we are concerned that DC could theoretically end up with no sixth form place at all! Should DC also apply for the closest school, even though we don't like it?

Same in my area. I wonder if we are local to each other? I'm in an Outer London borough.

No, not in London.

It’s interesting to see the differences around the country.
I wouldn’t worry about there not being places, some colleges/sixth forms like to overstate that to make them look popular. There will be spaces for everyone. Don’t forget some people will make more than 1 application but only need one space, so colleges that might have 2 applicants per space is a bit misleading - I could be that is a result of people applying for more than 1 college.
I am in Hampshire and we are lucky in that there are no sixth forms, only colleges. It’s a great stepping stone to university and 16 year olds don’t want to be treated like little kids wearing uniforms. Plenty of spaces and non selective too.

They received nearly 4000 applications and had 1400 places.

A large number of those would be from students applying to more than 1 college though. So the actual number competing for each place is much lower.

No, I'm not scared @WYorksTemp. It's useful to know these things.

However, I've had a look. The back up plan is massively different - if DS messes up that badly, there is a whole lot more going on that a sixth form application. He's currently predicted 8s and 9s in the subjects he wants at A level. The BTEC alternative wants 4 grade 4s. Is college really going to take an application from him seriously??

There will be spaces for everyone.

In primary and secondary admissions though, if there's no places in the 5 choices (or whatever) that you put on the common entry form, at least you get offered a place somewhere.

But that's not how sixth form entry works, you have to apply directly. So if all the sixth forms you've applied to and hold offers at, are oversubscribed, getting the GCSE results in your offer basically means jack, as far as I can see.

Which is different again from university, where if you hold offers for blabla A-level grades, and you get those grades, the place really is yours.

"Which is different again from university, where if you hold offers for blabla A-level grades, and you get those grades, the place really is yours."

@WYorksTemp UCAS coordinates university admissions so that all applicants accept one first choice offer and one insurance offer. Year 7 and Reception admissions are coordinated by the Local Authority, but there is no coordination for sixth form admissions.

Indeed. I wonder, now that education is compulsory to 18 (in England, not sure about the other countries in the UK), whether a similar coordinated entry system needs to be put in place for sixth form and further education in general?

State 6th forms have to follow the admissions code so the interview can only be to determine that the subjects/course are suitable for the applicant. I quote

" As stated in paragraph 1.9 m) above, any meetings held to discuss options and courses must not form part of the decision process on whether to offer a place."

Offers can be made on the basis of academic criteria eg x number of GCSE's at Grades y/z and they can set criteria for individual subjects.

@Comefromaway , as mentioned in a pp, the National Admissions Code only applies to school sixth forms, not to sixth form colleges or stand-alone sixth form academies.

I don't think they can decide not to take his application seriously, they have to follow the admissions code.

Re: messing up GCSEs, it's not the thing I am particularly concerned about - it's that an applicant could perfectly well achieve the grades required by their offers and still not actually get the sixth form place because the oversubscription criteria are applied after the results (see above).

My son is in year 12 now so we did this last year. His secondary school didn't have a sixth form so he had to move. He applied to 6 - a mix of schools and colleges and some (including the school he accepted) were outside of our borough. Each sixth form is it's own admissions authority and did things slightly differently.

All of them had different closing dates for applications. The biggest sixth form college was October half term and he had to apply with predicted grades as his mocks were after half term. He then had to upload the mock results to the college portal. They have an early application closure date as the PAN is 1,400 so lots to process! The other 5 were either end of November or end of December with interviews in Dec/Jan.

I'd expect most sixth forms to over offer against PAN (if they can) as not all of the students they offer to will take up their offer. The school DS ended up at gave firm conditional offers but ran a waiting list in case any of those with firm offers didn't get the grades. DS was asked at each interview if their sixth form was his first choice (but as others have said, they can't refuse an offer if the student says it's not their first choice). The interview should be around making sure the student is choosing a realistic set of A Levels/Btecs and that they are likely to get the grades for these exams.

DS was unsure what subject combination to apply for but the sixth forms were really helpful in guiding and advising. Your son's school should also be doing this @WYorksTemp

With remarkably little grumbling, DC has put in the insurance application for our closest school 🏆

Funny thing was that the application blurb on the school website said something along the lines of "Only submit an application if you really want to come here" Should we be expected to feel bad about potentially 'blocking' a place? I am assuming DC will get an offer from this school and they will be holding it until they can confirm they've genuinely got a place at one of their higher preferences after results day.

Little update: Offers from the top 2 choices (sixth form colleges) and from the backup local school DC very happy, now it's down to GCSE results and whatever the oversubscription gods decide on August 21!

The third choice school didn't even invite for interview, just radio silence!

"The third choice school didn't even invite for interview, just radio silence!"

@WYorksTemp if that was the school sixth form mentioned in your op then they must reply to you with either a provisional offer or a reason why not. Check your spam and make sure they didn't just reply to your DC but not you. If there is definitely no response, then chase them.

Thats very fast.
I am also In Yorkshire and the 6th form colleges here are just interviewing

Thanks @filteredlight yes it is a school-linked sixth form. We have all been checking our spam but nothing so far (the original "Thank you for applying" email, in November, went into our usual inboxes so we do know they got the applications).

Back when we attended their open evening, the school provided a timeline indicating interviews end-January-ish. Obviously we're now into February half-term, so seems like a big delay compared to the other colleges/schools which kept to their indicated timelines. I wonder if this school is completely snowed under with applications?

Oh that's interesting! What sort of timelines were given? (Just wondering if many sixth forms are falling behind due to high levels of applications or whether our area is unusually prompt with the application process).

I've been through this a few times and the only interviews were the ones in their current schools, none of the external sixth forms (all schools) interviewed. OP the over subscription thing on results day could also be on a subject by subject basis. Eg chemistry and maths are very popular, and if they are full you could miss out on a place even thought the other two subjects have places.

@WYorksTemp , as probably mentioned in thread above, state school sixth forms are not allowed to "interview". They can have a meeting to discuss course options, but it can't influence whether they make you an offer or not. So being inundated is no excuse

Many sixth forms don't understand their obligations under the admissions code, and in my experience local authorities turn a blind eye. Don't assume the school know what they are doing and have it right. If they have it wrong then they are wide open to appeals.

This is always when they interview, they aren't behind