Leaving private school for state 6th form - experiences?

[WomensRightsRenegade]

I did ask this once before but it was quite a while ago now so I was just wondering if this was something more people were doing/ thinking about doing?

Thanks to the VAT increase my son had his bursary halved (from 100pc) and it looks like it’s about to be reduced further or removed. I guess they have no need to rush confirmation seeing as they will know parents will do almost anything to avoid moving schools for year 11. It’s all been quite nasty really. Seeing behind the gloss and the taglines about how they care for the boys like family has been illuminating.

Anyhow DS is utterly heartbroken at having to leave when he is so happy. He is very talented musically and was so looking forward to continuing in the ensembles and taking Music A level there. It’s going to be an agonising last year as he can’t even let anyone know he’s leaving until April. No local sixth forms to us even offer Music A level and the nearest college is a lottery system.

Are other people facing having to remove kids against the child’s will? I am so worried he will always think we could have found a way, even though he’s said nothing to us except that he understands the situation totally. Academically I’m sure he’ll be fine if he works hard, but socially and musically it feels like it could be a very abrupt end. If I could go back in time I would never EVER have accepted the bursary. This was always the risk.

I really wanted to keep this thread for the OP’s situation, but I can’t let this pass! Please could you give details?

If you’re in outer London your son could consider auditioning for one of the music college’s Junior schemes, which happen on Saturdays. Eg https://www.gsmd.ac.uk/study-with-guildhall/children-and-young-people/guildhall-young-artists/junior-guildhall and there are also schemes at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy. This could sit very well alongside his academic studies at state sixth form. Many kids travel in from surrounding counties. Lots of opportunities for quality ensemble playing.

If he cannot take A Level music that is not the end of the world, as others have said. Instead, he could consider studying Music Theory to a higher level (ABRSM goes up to Grade 8 Theory and Trinity goes up to Diploma level). There are plenty of opportunities to find online tuition for this if there’s no-one teaching it local to you.

He is thinking he’ll do either physics or engineering at university, but it’s early days beyond deciding A levels. He would do biology if he didn’t do music

Ex private students I have seen who transferred to state got more uni offers than those who stayed in private. They count as state for the stats.

Thank you - I will need to start seriously investigating everything that is out there. He does play in the symphony orchestra and other ensembles at school but his passion and real talent is jazz. He is the lead drummer in his school swing and jazz bands, has his own jazz band with friends there, and plays in a local jazz club ‘open mic’ night when he can. He plays orchestral percussion, piano and trumpet too.

Yes, and I’m thinking it would be hard to tailor a personal statement to both Tonmeister and then the plan B of a straight physics degree

Thank you. You’re all helping me feel so much more positive

This is such a brilliant post, thank you!

Now I see you are in outer London, you should get him into the Saturday acadamies instead. I linked the Royal College of Music one and someone just posted the Guildhall one too. I know kids from Hampshire travelling up for that. He shouldn't just be playing in his school's ensemble if he is aiming for music at a conservatoire.

Thank you - he loves jazz, but could definitely look into brass bands too!

What’s his main instrument? Percussion, piano or trumpet? Has he done grade 8 in any/all of them?

It would be a trek but will definitely look into it, thank you

This is a really positive way to think about it, thank you. One of our frustrations with the private school has been the fact that kids come from far away - there are no meet ups after school as most rush to get the school bus. And no spontaneity really. Local friends would be brilliant. If it worked out well!

Ok, well if he plays percussion pretty much any bras band will want him. There’s a real shortage of percussionists.

if he’s interested in jazz then junior departments at music places aren’t necessarily the right place for him, they are pretty classically focussed.

drumming for jazz can get pretty complex pretty fast. I’m assuming he’s got grade 8, if not he should work on getting it. Beyond that he really needs a good teacher who knows jazz drumming as opposed to rock/blues/etc.

there are quite a few in London some of whom might be prepared to travel to outer London.

my son is about to start his masters in jazz drumming at guildhall so if you are interested I can ask for recommendations.

you should probably be aware that at the moment there are a lot of drummers around - his auditions to get on the masters were fiercely competitive, whereas more traditional instruments (trumpet and the like) are now shortage instruments.

The royal college, the academy and Guildhall do junior jazz programmes.

So just anecdotal data?
ucas explain more fully how contextual offers are made, and it’s about a lot more than just where you went to school. When school is a consideration it’s usually up to age 16 that is used.

Maybe they got better predicted A level grades?

@WomensRightsRenegadeLangton Boys in Canterbury has excellent music and STEM. But probably too far….

Surrey must have this problem all the time - if it comes to it I would email them and ask for advice / if he can submit an additional statement.

Loads of jazz opportunities around London for young people btw - NYJO and NYJC for instance. Plus Guildhall and RAM have junior jazz departments iirc. Getting out of school and meeting new players and teachers will do wonders for his jazz development.

Nope, either the same or worse.

Yeah that’s what they say. But on the ground the students I have seen who moved to state for 6th form had noticeably more offers. Others are reporting the same on here and in r/l.

Someone else saying explore the junior music colleges. I was a maths and physics and music person. I went to Junior Guildhall until I was about 16. It was great! I gave it up in favour of studying for my A-levels but I wish I'd chosen to stay at JG and not do music A-Level as I think I would have got loads more out of two more years at the saturday music school than I did out of A-level music. If he's into performance and ensembles, he's not going to get any more of that from doing the A-Level... Guildhall was great for jazz in my day (admitedly a long time ago).

I absolutely get how gutting this is for him OP. I would have been devasated to leave my school at this stage as the music department was absolutely the centre of my life. I was involved in everything, was the 1st in my instrument in the orchestra and most of my friends were musicians too. It's not about the leaving private, per se, is it? It's about leaving this environment in which he's thrived and in which he plays a central role. It's hard.

Tonmeister is such a specific course... I was interested in it too (because it seemed like an 'ideal' way to combine my interests). After a chat with the course convener I realised that it really is for people who have a burning desire to be sound engineers (which I didn't). That's what they look for.

You could put in a subject access request. They can create a huge amount of work for an organisation but, if you limited it to, for example, the last 12 months and to the topic of the bursary, it shouldn’t be too much hassle and could give you some answers.
As others have said, the world of music is a broad and busy one and he might enjoy some different challenges and opportunities. I think that, for a Sixth Former, participating in adult ensembles can be really useful experience before heading off to Uni.

There are excellent County Youth Jazz ensembles. Research those. I’m in a county just outside of London and DS spent a very happy couple of years in it before heading off to Uni where he’s now in the Big Band (and studying engineering).

The Royal Academy of Music offer jazz outreach opportunities for London state school pupils - you have to be recommended by your teacher. I know this because my son attended ‘jazz club’ over several Saturdays last year. Might be worth investigating depending on where your son ends up attending.

i mention this with trepidation because some posters on this thread have seemingly convinced themselves that state school pupils are taking opportunities from private school pupils, whereas in fact the only reason RAM does outreach (and universities give contextual offers) is an attempt in some small way to rebalance the massive advantage of private school pupils …