Applying for 6th form / college - have backup options!

[TeenToTwenties]

Please please get your young people to apply for not only Plan A but also Plan B and Plan C.
It is upsetting to see on here each year in August pupils who haven't met their grades for whatever reason then in a panic because they have no backup.

For example:
If plan A needs a grade average of 7 then have a plan B that needs 6 and C that needs 5.5.
If Plan A is A levels because you expect grades 6 then have a plan B of for example a level 3 BTEC / T-Levels.
If plan A is a level 3 vocational course then is there a Level 2 they could do if needed? If not then what would they do?

It is far easier to explore options and apply for them this term than be scrabbling around at the end of August making rash decisions.

Things can go wrong with GCSEs, illness, MH, or just being unlucky and ending up on the wrong side of a load of grade boundaries.

Yes hard agree with this @TeenToTwenties

Especially if the favoured option has a requirement of a specific (high) grade average – this is not a thing where I live but seems to be quite common (maybe just on MN haha). It’s all too possible to slip a couple of grades and not make the requirement, even tho you may have passed M and E and got grade 6 or 7 in your A level choices.

We found college was often more accepting – if it wanted 5 x grade 5 and a student presents with 2 x grade 4 and 3 x grade 3, they are often able to offer an alternative. But do enquire.

To clarify also – a student can hold multiple post-16 offers, it’s not like school places at age 11.

I'd also suggest having back up subject options so if your DC has the required grades to get in to sixth form but discovers their chosen combination or subject is no longer on offer, they've already spent some time looking at alternatives.

And start planning now - some places can have surprisingly early deadlines!

Bumping for the Christmas crowd who have just had underwhelming mock results.
Merry Christmas.

Just to add to this, have a back up for when school turn round and say " Sorry Ice Junior, we can't timetable Physics, Chemistry and Maths this year, what do you want to switch to?"

Deadlines are often end of January to be an on time application- and once your application is in for a particular school, it’s much easier to message and say “actually I’d like to change from A level chemistry to biology “ than to not be sure and so put a late application in. Once you are in their system on time, you are a priority.

Have plan B and C.

To add, for those who don't know - you can hold as many sixth form offers as you want. You don't have to choose until after GCSE results day. So there literally is no downside to applying to Plan B school/college other than the time it takes to do so.

I'd also add that if your DC wants to stay on at their current school but there are high entry requirements, do not assume the school will reduce them for current pupils. Particularly if they are oversubscribed.

Agree, we have plan A - 2 academically selective state secondaries

Plan b. Stay at current school

plan c. Specialist 6th form college

plan d. Private sixth form accepting lower grades and very creatively focused. It’s my child’s dream school but at 28k a year it’s last resort for me

"do not assume the school will reduce them for current pupils. Particularly if they are oversubscribed"

They would be in breach of the admissions code if they did this. It explicitly says that internal and external candidates should have the same academic criteria.

Sometimes it depends on your area. In my area schools don’t have 6th forms. There are two colleges & both accept everyone who applies. If you don’t get the grades for your chosen course they will offer a lower level alternative.

However (I know you know this) it is still a good idea to
a) actually apply to both
b) know what subjects you would do for plans B & C.

(b) is important because on results / enrolment day you don't want your young person to be randomly picking other A levels or a BTEC without a level of prior thought.

@TeenToTwenties I would add to your op to say:

1.Check the admissions policy forensically (I mean the actual policy, not just a summary of the policy on the sixth form web page) and make sure you understand it.
2.If applying to state school sixth forms (rather than colleges, which are regulated differently) look out for breaches of the national Admissions Code in both the policy and the application form. Breaches are rife at sixth form level. This is because admissions aren't usually coordinated by the LA, which means the LA don't have control of the application form, and they don't scrutinise school policies and application forms to the same level. Very common breaches are:

• tying conditional offers to predicted grades;
• requesting information that has no bearing on the decision (such as a personal statement or SEN information);

• requesting information and/or references from current schools;
• implying that behavioural reports will have a bearing on offers;
• implying that offers are dependent on an interview;
• stating that applications won't be accepted after a certain date.

3.If your application is de-prioritised or rejected before A Level results day then the school is in breach of the code.
4.If your application is rejected or put on a waiting list, the school should tell you the reason and advise you of your right to appeal. Appeals are rare for Year 12 admissions, which is ironic given the widespread admissions code breaches (which potentially make them more winnable).
5.If you do get a place, the school is not obliged to offer you your chosen subjects. As the op said, they may be full, or may be so empty they are unviable, or the teacher may resign and not be replaced in time.

@ofamuchness I think your point 5 is really important. They do not have to offer you your chosen subject combination.

This in itself is a reason to apply for more than 1 institution.

Great advice op. But I’d also say that if things go differently to expected, do not panic, the sixth form colleges especially are used to change of plans and there’s always movement in late august. But parents… do make sure you are back from holidays and be prepared on the Thursday and Friday to be available to help your dc if they need it, even if things went well there was a lots of paperwork to complete to register on the Friday and we had sen paperwork on top.

In our area, 6th form applications have basically closed already (London borough), sneaked one in a day late yesterday and there is one left with a Jan close dates. To say mocks were underwhelming would be an understatement here and dc is at a super selective grammar so going to be a hard slog to stay in.

They may have closed for their definition of "on time" applications but state school sixth forms are not allowed to close for late applications. If they tell you otherwise you can point them to the relevant clause in the national admissions code.

@ofamuchness is it correct that the admissions code only applies to sixth forms at a school and not stand alone sixth forms? Do they have to comply with any regulations?

Do private schools have to follow the admissions code?

I've seen this come up frequently on MN where DC is in Y11 at a private school, doesn't quite get the stated grades for sixth form but parents/student "assume" that the school will take them into Y12 regardless as they are such a valued student.

When DS was applying for sixth form his (state) school sixth form said that all current pupils were guaranteed a place. It was only in the small print that it mentioned that it might not be to their preferred course and was subject to meeting entry criteria. Quite a few people were caught out by that.

That's correct. The DfE funding agreements for schools mandates them to follow the Admissions Code, and anyone can ask the Schools Adjudicator to review policies suspected of not being compliant (though there is a strict timeline you need to follow).

In contrast, the funding agreements for sixth form colleges only mandates them to have admissions policies that are "fair and reasonable". Their policies are not within the remit of the Schools Adjudicator, but you can complain about them to the DfE.

They don't, no.

Totally agree, I made my DD have plan B and C just in case as she wanted to so a course down a very unusual but exciting route so.the demand for said course was huge. Thankfully she achieved plan A but it was in no way a shoo in.

Also because a lot of students have plans A B and C, colleges that are full for certain courses now, may have places on gcse results day. Or if they don’t on the day, ask to go on a waiting list, because there is always someone who really wanted something different who then has to confirm their own plan A before they release their plan B offer.

It is also worth checking with these- remember this school year 11 is a boom year. As such, colleges might fill courses early that in previous years still had places on results day, it was just a question of if you made the grades or not.

Just worth thinking this is the group where we were all stressed about getting a primary school place because they were just too many kids - some courses might be hard to get on this year if the colleges /schools have to limit spaces.

That’s this weeks job!

I echo back up plans!
DS knew what A levels he wanted to do from about age 12, with a specific end goal. Getting the GCSE grades was never really going to be a problem and his school had a 6th form. He applied for 6th form in November of Y11 (a year ago) - in March of Y11 school told him they couldn’t timetable his A level choices. Just as well he’d applied elsewhere, as it was after application deadlines had passed.