NLCS vs St Helen's Sixth Form

[sixthformmummy]

Hi,
My daughter has to choose between St Helen's or NLCS which are both offering generous scholarships. However, St Helen’s is at walking distance while NLCS is a 50 mins commute.

I'm looking for first-hand advice on the support NLCS offers in sixth form for STEM subjects, and if the teaching at NLCS is worth the longer commute due to the increased workload during A-levels.

Any insights or guidance you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

Do St Helens as it's nearby.

I do know the school very well

Thanks for your reply, could you explain any further?

I believe it is a good school and it would be better for your dd to be able to walk there and have friends nearby

I'm surprised you haven't had more responses.

Where is she at school now?

She's actually at St Helen's right now :)
She finds the teaching level alright but mostly has to self-study, and is unsure whether NLCS would be any better since its A-level results do seem to be better, or if NLCS provides any extra support including uni or Oxbridge support.

We are going through a similar decision right now - significant scholarship at her current girls school vs place at a top 10 London coed day school. Commute would be over an hour each way.

DD wants a change, feels like things have become stale where she is and wants to be with boys. We all very much like the London school. She’ll no doubt get the same results wherever she goes but have a very different experience. Current school will pull out all the stops to get her into Oxbridge. New school she’ll be one of many applying so whilst this school offers lots of Oxbridge support, it can’t possibly be as personal as at her current school where only a handful will apply.

Added bonus of knowing the teachers (and they’re all amazing for the subjects she wants to take), can hit the ground running, shorter commute etc.

I know it should be a no brainer with the fee discount but it is VERY hard. We’re not looking at results though - we’re looking at other benefits like coed and social, different teaching style etc.

Although St Helens has a "good" reputation, would like to point out our experience. My DD subject was not submitted for marking, we found out on A level results day.
The school admitted to their mistake but the approach and handling of the whole situation by the chair of governors was appalling.
Something to consider when looking at various school options.

Goodness! that's appalling😱

Didn't even know such a thing was possible. So sorry this happened
What did you do?

@justanotherdaduser quite easily done I guess when schools don't have checks in place or have done their due diligence. Headmistress tired to help but eventually passed us onto the chair of governors to deal with. Of course my DD missed out on her uni place that year 😨