Are school sixth forms that rank applicants by GCSE grades in breach of the admissions code?

[havubooked]

Grammar school Year 12 admissions policies tend to set minimum grade thresholds, which apply equally to internal and external applicants. Internal applicants that meet the criteria are, of course, guaranteed a place. However, to manage demand for external applicants, they need to use oversubscription criteria. Rather than using distance or lottery like non-selective schools, its common to rank applicants by average GCSE point score. But surely this is a breach of clause 2.6 of the Admissions Code which says that sixth form academic selection criteria "must be the same for both external and internal places"?

Is this any different for a 7+ or a 13+ entrant to a school though? They don’t kick out anyone that got in age seven, even if they underperform compared to the cohort of 13 year olds applying when they’re that age. It’s always been this, hasn’t it?

Loads of sixth forms do this

some even retract an offered subject if more students have a higher score even if you have the required grade ie 7 but more have an 8 or 9 so you get bumped out of that subject and have to choose another one

Am I being daft, but surely DC already in the school are already ON ROLL at the school. They are not, in effect, applying. It’s the opposite in a way. DC without the credentials to stay have to leave. No one goes through a formal process to remain on roll. Some schools do add to their Pan at 6th form. My LA makes it clear that the over subscription policy does NOT apply to pupils already in a school. They get an automatic place if they meet the school’s criteria. This sounds sensible to me.

Ours asks current pupils to apply, and then there is a 1:1 meeting to discuss options. It's not an interview - literally a chat about plans. That was the school has a firm idea of numbers wanting to stay, a pretty good idea of numbers wanting to stay who will get the grades, and can see what the subject choices are looking like.

Seems sensible to have a heads up if everyone wants to do Maths and nobody wants to do French.

I don't know who some of the recent post (without tags or quotes) are replying to, but if it is to me (op) then please do read through the rest of the thread.

The fact that internal students are already enrolled was never in question by me. My question was whether it is legal to use GCSE ranking for managing external oversubscription (notwithstanding the fact that it is common, or intuitive logical) because it isn't at all clear from the Admissions Code. However, the question was answered definitively yesterday by paragraph 21 of the 2018-19 Schools Adjudicator Report. Job done. It is legal.

The internal students are already part of the school community and would expect to be able to continue their education there if they meet a minimum threshold (just as they would moving from any other year to the next) - whereas the external applicants are applying for a small number of extra / freed-up places so there has to be something which helps rank them.

@OhCrumbsWhereNow Yes but DC continue on roll. They are not off roll after GCSEs. They continue on roll into 6th form . They might say it’s an application but legally, it isn’t as they automatically stay on roll. What does your LA say about 6th form students continuing at the same school? My LA is clear that their status as being on roll continues. The admissions process is only for new applicants.

Agree.

Often school dependent.

Some LA’s are not involved in sixth form admissions. In that case admissions follow school and governor agreed policy.

Grammar schools often have a policy that internal students meet a grade expectation. This can also differ from expectations on external candidates.

An example.
https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/children-education-families/schools/apply-for-a-school-place/sixth-form-at-lancashire-maintained-schools/

Many LAs are not involved in 6th form admissions. That’s besides the point. The point is that I believe the law discriminates between dc staying on roll and external candidates to join a 6th form. My LA is giving guidance to parents for 6th form applications and clearly makes the distinction. Existing pupils on roll are automatically staying on roll as long as they meet the criteria set. My local grammar says the pupils are asked to “confirm their desire to continue at the school”. It confirms in the admissions policy that all DC who meet the criteria of GCSE points/grades will transfer to y12 if they wish. It’s external candidates that apply in a legal sense where admissions law applies. How could you look at all the legal requirements all over again for everyone? What if parents have moved out of catchment and 30 new applicants are now closer? Are those dc removed because better qualified dc live closer? I do not see it as a competition to fill the full 180 places. It’s a competition to fill vacant or extra places.

Difficult situation. GCSE results correlate incredibly well with A level results. If you don't get an 8 or 9 at GCSE it's hardly worth doing subjects like further Maths or Physics/Chemistry.Not sure about Arts or humanities i expect it's the same. Highly selective schools that focus on university entry for academic students probably aren't the best environment for those who haven't achieved the top GCSE grades.

I think you are on a hiding to nothing there.

It would be perfectly reasonable to have a set of criteria that states:

The school will admit in priority order in the following category bands:

A) Children whose EHCP states they must attend this school, and looked after children
B) Children who completed y7-y11in the school (up to 100 places) who meet the minimum GCSE thresholds
C) Other children transferring from other schools who meet the minimum GCSE thresholds (up to 50 places)

Within EACH CATEGORY BAND in the event that there are more qualifying applicants than places available then students will be ranked in descending order of GCSE grades.

They are then applying the criteria fairly to both internal and external candidates.

But if statistically they know that only 80 of their existing pupils are going to both meet the criteria and wish to stay on then the effect of such an entirely legal policy will be exactly as you describe.

@RareGoalsVerge You cannot get rid of DC on roll who meet your academic criteria for 6th form. You would be removing them from the school for no reason if they meet the published criteria. I might be wrong, but that’s illegal so schools don’t do it. The existing pupils confirm if they want to stay. Places are filled up from knowledge of places available but in my LA only extra places are advertised. Eg a boys school admitting girls into the 6 th form. The minimum educational attainment required is the same as the boys. If too many qualify, admissions criteria apply eg EHCP, Pp, looked after etc. Not all academic schools use very high grades.

@TizerorFizz you are correct, and all of this is made very clear in paragraph 21 of the 2018-19 Schools Adjudicator Report (available here: www.gov.uk/government/publications/osa-annual-report). However it also says that "decisions about what courses young people are then able to follow having been offered a place is a matter for the senior management of the school and is not an admissions matter for the adjudicator at all." This means, as I mentioned up-thread, that internal students can be managed out at course level, i.e. " Yes, you can have a place, but you can't do course X". In practice, this pushes students out (legally).

My concern in that the adjudicator's clarifications in their 2018/19 report are not at all clear in the code itself. The result is that many schools have unclear sixth form admissions policies, parents/students are often baffled, and LAs generally turn a blind eye.

Yes. I can see that subject requests might not be met. In my experience, it’s not very many DC are affected though. I cannot see how schools can address this and be cost effective. Most have minimum numbers for A level subjects for obvious reasons. It’s a balance between what students want and school budget efficiency. Around here, there are at least 4 other 6th forms dc could go to. It’s a case of weighing up how much dc desperately want a subject.

Also, and I’m not sure about how this worked, but 2 dc from my village attended the local non grammar 6th form secondary. One did FM at A level and the other did Chemistry. The school didn’t (still doesn’t) offer either of these at A level. FM candidates in a non grammar would be unusual. I have a feeling they joined classes at a local grammar but stayed on roll at their secondary. The school reported their A levels in glowing terms and I was amazed at the FM A level being offered. Indeed it wasn’t. Perhaps schools working together could be a way forward?