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Secondary education

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Original poster

SW London: how hard are 6th form admissions? Would you avoid a secondary without 6th form?

78 replies

PForParent · 11/03/2025 15:12

Not sure if a London-only forum might be more appropriate for this question.
One of the state secondary schools we are considering is Hurlingham Academy in Fulham.
It does not have a 6th form on site; it basically sends students to another school of the same trust, but that would be 45 - 60 minutes away by public transport.

We are trying to look into 6th form admissions, to get a sense for how hard or not it is to be admitted to a 6th form at another school, but we aren't finding much information.

  • Do some schools use distance as one of the admission criteria for 6th form? Graveney doesn't, but for other schools (Chestnut) we cannot find the criteria online
  • Are any statistics on applications and admissions published anywhere? They are published for Y7 admissions, but I haven't seen anything for 6th form admissions. I guess we must ask the schools directly?
OP posts:
okday · 01/04/2025 21:23

*Esher prioritise some postcode areas too, but that is different to distance.

Trampoline · 02/04/2025 09:01

okday · 01/04/2025 21:17

"The 6th forms I'm looking at don't include distance as a factor, they're all based on meeting minimum grade requirements."

You need to check the oversubscription criteria in the admissions policy. If more students meet the minimum grade requirements than there are places available they will need to prioritise some students over others.

You have mis-described Esher's policy. Distance isn't a factor. They do prioritise some named local schools that don't have sixth forms. After that it is a lottery.

Always check the formal policy rather than going by any narrative descriptions on sixth form websites.

Edited
Show quote history

Yes, thanks for clarifying.
On the oversubscription criteria, it's often unclear/unstated. A couple of examples we have seen is that a school may state a minimum entry grade of for instance a 4 or 5, but for popular subjects which they know will be over subscribed, that minimum entry grade is more like a 6 or even a 7. This info was given to us verbally and doesn't seem to be written down anywhere. I know a child who's been persuaded away from a particular popular subject as their predicted grades - whilst meeting the minimum grades stated on the website- are not going to meet those higher grades.

What happens if a child has been given a conditional offer (on achieving 4s) but then other kids with that offer get higher grades - how do schools/colleges manage this where a course is oversubscribed?

Sorry to hijack this post!

okday · 02/04/2025 12:54

Trampoline · 02/04/2025 09:01

Yes, thanks for clarifying.
On the oversubscription criteria, it's often unclear/unstated. A couple of examples we have seen is that a school may state a minimum entry grade of for instance a 4 or 5, but for popular subjects which they know will be over subscribed, that minimum entry grade is more like a 6 or even a 7. This info was given to us verbally and doesn't seem to be written down anywhere. I know a child who's been persuaded away from a particular popular subject as their predicted grades - whilst meeting the minimum grades stated on the website- are not going to meet those higher grades.

What happens if a child has been given a conditional offer (on achieving 4s) but then other kids with that offer get higher grades - how do schools/colleges manage this where a course is oversubscribed?

Sorry to hijack this post!

Show quote history

@Trampoline all state sixth forms should have their full admissions policy on their website. Sometimes it is hidden away in a "policy" section. It might be in the same document as their year 7 policy, or it might be in a separate document.

Are you looking at sixth forms in 11-18 state schools or at 16-18 colleges? The former need to follow the national admissions code. The latter don't.

The practices you describe sound like a breach of the national admissions code. If their policy breaches it, or if they are not following their policy, then that would be worth pointing out to them and, if necessary, a strong case for appeal. Unfortunately, many sixth forms do seem to breach the code.

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