Mad sixth form transfer process

[Bufftailed]

Agh. Just a vent.

DC has no sixth form so moving. His current school just announced they can collect results at time one of sixth forms wants him there in person to secure his place. We have to travel between schools. We got notified of this once hols had begun and no one now answering. Over subscribed sixth form very clear get there at designated time or no guarantees.

His other preferred choice sent out a ‘congrats you have a conditional offer’ letter but then dropped into the taster that even with the conditional grades your place is not guaranteed. This wasn’t clear at all for this particular sixth form.

I’m sure it will all work out (he has 3 offers) but it seems mad out there and surely there is a better way. Anyone else??

Can he not have his results emailed to him so you can go directly to the first choice sixth form? There must be a metric for results to be sent rather than picked up. Not everyone is able to be there in person.

How far is the journey? If these are schools which are local enough to get to easily for your DS, will the journey take longer than, say, 30 mins? I agree it sounds a bit ridiculous if school A says "pick up results in person, no other option, must be done at 9am" and school B says "be here 9am no later with your results". I would be tempted to be at school A at 8.45 then hare over to school B for 9.15.

ETA agree very annoying if they tell you this now! Maybe contact on A level results day, as there will be staff there then for sure, and see if you can negotiate something more helpful for the following week?

Thank you. DC wants to go to school with mates to collect results, although knows getting a place is more important!! He won’t be only one with early appointment!

They say they email in the afternoon. I just can’t believe the whole thing isn’t better coordínated. We should be able go do the journey in absolute max 30 mins, if we are lucky less. Can be a lot of traffic. I can feel my stress levels rising already.

I have emailed múltiple people so hopefully someone has a solution.

No one there for A levels as no sixth form 🤣 But imagine someone will be in, day before if nothing else.

Yeah I meant contact the sixth form choice – they will be there on A levels day. Best thing seems to me to negotiate a later appointment. Like I say, there will be someone there on 14 Aug for sure. Or in the week leading up to that day.

The "collect with mates" thing needn't take long tho – the longest thing will probably be the queue to pick up. Once they see what they have there's not much beyond jumping up in the air to pose for the local paper (joke).

Ah sorry! Yeah will try that. Problem is they fill places as they go on the day, but hopefully still ok! Thanks for replying

Clary: "Best thing seems to me to negotiate a later appointment."

@Bufftailed this isn't good advice. The oversubscribed sixth form will have given your son an appointment time that is appropriate to its oversubscription criteria (e.g. ordered by distance). Even if they agree to hold the place open for him, the courses he wants to do may be full by the time he gets there and he may need to choose different courses. This is an important distinction - if a case like this were to go to appeal, you'd only be able to appeal for a place at the school, not for a place on specific courses.

One option is "divide and conquer" - he can go to the sixth form appointment and you can go pick up his results, photograph them, and send him the evidence. He will probably need to email the GCSE school to give permission for you to pick up his results.

His friends will be too absorbed in their own results to mind whether he's there or not.

The sixth firm will know the situation with picking up results. If you are slightly late do not panic. They want all their places filled. Remember each bum on a seat is extra funding and sixth forms get decent funding. All the results at your school will be prepared and ready in an envelope, so it can be collected quickly. Your son can then meet up later with his friends. Good luck!

Thank you.

@rigourous yes - my DC has an early appointment based on wanting to do a minority subject and therefore getting priority. Appointments have then been allocated in accordance with oversub criteria. They are clear subjects fill up. I don’t know if a photo would suffice. They want the results ‘in hand’ The other schools want everything uploading, so I guess I can do that in the car while he goes in…

@Vivienne1000 it’s an oversubscribed school, but yeah think we grab and run 🤣🤣

That is bonkers. Wish I could add something more helpful but what a stupid process.

I'd suggest he gives you a letter so you can get his results. You photograph them and send them to him. You can then just drop the results slips off later in the day at the SFC.
Alternatively just turn up much earlier at school and explain the issues.

Getting gcse results is important to dc. Don't cut it short because of the sixth form process. He'll get his place.

Please remember schools want 6th formers generally as they get a lot of funding for them. I’m sure the schools will be keen for him if he gets the grades they want

I agree with you that the 6th form enrolment process is a bit mad. They all have different ways to enrol.

There’s a clear process for going to secondary. There’s a clear process for going to University. But 6th form is a bun fight!

I think you just need to tell your DC they need to go early to get the results or lose the place at the sixth form with the appointment.

But I agree the whole process is a mess.

I know. This is why I’m annoyed the school have scheduled results collection at this time. I have heard another sixth form has also issued appointments at same time as my DC. These are local, popular sixth forms. They have been so organised and great at everything - it’s a weird oversight.

The other two schools I know of are giving out GCSE results half an hour/ an hour earlier…

Exactly this. Queues form and your place in the queue can determine if you get your subject choices or a place at all. I’ve heard it’s an absolute bun fight 🤣🤣

The 6rh form works on a first come first served basis? That’s absolutely crazy and they need to sort out their application process. It sounds like they’ve offered places to more students than there are places, and your child is at a disadvantage due to circumstances out of his hands.

It shouldn't be a bun fight - it should be run strictly according to admissions criteria - but that is difficult when the process is so uncoordinated. Local authorities turn a blind eye to breaches of the admissions code because they're not involved in the process. Also the admissions code isn't tailored to the complexities of an uncoordinated process, making it difficult for schools to understand the rules.

They have to make conditional offers to more students than there are places, because many students hold more than one offer. Also popular or niche subjects fill up. If you choose a popular combination eg maths, chemistry, biology, you may find you get a place at the sixth form because you achieved the necessary grades, but can't do your combination of subjects because they are full.

If you choose a popular combination eg maths, chemistry, biology, you may find you get a place at the sixth form because you achieved the necessary grades, but can't do your combination of subjects because they are full.

😨This is awful, it's no way to treat young people but also how is this good for us as a country in terms of training future workers in the more needed subjects??

Awful, my one can collect his GCSE results from 8.30 in the morning. He is staying put so no stress there but what time can yours pick them up, can they not do it a bit earlier?

Agree with the divide and conquer route, but let your son collect with mates and you go to the sixth form for the appointment. He can send you a pic of the print out.
This is what we did for DS - he was on a summer school elsewhere week of GCSE results, DH picked up his results and I took them into sixth form college to enrol him.
Sixth form will have a protocol for exactly these scenarios

I think this is maybe way to go. He can then get an uber to catch me up.

Ah sorry to give poor advice – I was thinking if you actually sorted a later apt with the desired school they might hold a place?

But if that's not likely then I agree he needs to get there asap. Results in hand – as in an actual piece of paper? That is ridiculous.

I think those who say "he'll get his place - they need the people there" have missed that he wants to do a subject with limited spaces. My DD wanted to change an A level subject after a week and certain subjects (psych for example) were closed to her (not that she wanted to do it but YGWIM). So I agree he needs to prioritise getting to the sixth form asap.

BTW of course they have over offered - like unis. DC can hold multiple sixth form place offers, it's not like secondary school at age 11. DS2 had three places where he had an offer.

Update: head of year has kindly said she will go earlier to give my DC his results. However, I am going to see about pp’s suggestion that DC gets the results while I join sixth form queue.

I have pointed out to school that they are an outlier in doing the collection so late and should consider changing it for everyone, Have options anyway. Thanks all for help