Looking for some advice state college vs private for 6th Form

[DrOlya]

My daughter has been in state school since Year 2 and is currently doing her GCSEs at Coombe Girls. She has now been offered a place at Kingston Grammar for Sixth Form.

She's the type who does much better in a structured environment - without structure she can get a bit lazy or distracted, which is part of what’s making me consider the move.

The alternative is Esher College. Although the results are good, it felt very big and quite independent-study-heavy. I worry she might just hang out with friends and won’t get as much taught support.

Financially, I can just afford the two years of fees, but only with lifestyle changes (cutting back on holidays etc.) and taking on extra work on my days off. I’m a single parent and would be paying full fees.

Is it worth stretching financially for two years of private education for A-levels?
Would really appreciate any thoughts, especially from parents with experience of KGS Sixth Form or Esher.

What are the pros for Esher? It sounds like you feel the grammar is a better fit for your DD.
Does she have a preference?

Thank you.
The main pros for Esher are that it’s free, and if she decides to apply to university later, there can be contextual preferences for students from state schools.

That said, £60k over two years is a significant amount, so I’m really trying to work out whether it’s genuinely worth the investment.

DD would probably prefer KGS, but many of her friends are going to Esher and she will be happy to follow her friendship group.

Is she sporty? My cousin went to private school for sixth form, and wasn't sporty, and didn't find her tribe. She ended up moving to state sixth form and was much happier. Does she know any of the kids at the private school? Is she able to do any taster days?

Thank you - that’s a really good point.
She is quite sporty and is doing PE for GCSE. She knows a few students at KGS through mutual friends and from her primary, although she would still need to make new friends there.

Esher College is much bigger, and several of her current friends are going, so socially it might be easier in that sense.

I’ve emailed KGS to ask about a tour/meeting before we accept so she can get a proper feel for it. Ultimately it has to be her decision. I don’t want her feeling under pressure or thinking, ‘Mum is remortgaging her life for this and I’m not even enjoying it!’ 😄

What does she want to do at university? If it’s heavily oversubscribed (e.g m/d/v or law) the contextual status helps with shortlisting not just grade offered. I know of a head boy at an independent with all grade 9’s and 4 A star predictions Tons of extra curricular carried out over a number of years. High ESAT. He didn’t even get called for interview at Cambridge. Another friends child, similar stats again wanted Durham for law and again - no interview. I would think very carefully about giving up contextual advantage if she wants to study a super competitive course. A motivated student will be just as able to do well in a state setting and you will be able to fund lots of tutoring and still have a holiday with the £60k saved and it sounds like you will benefit from contextual status! However, if she doesn’t want such a competitive course I would choose where you think she will be best suited and have the “nicest” experience. Full disclosure - mine have been at independent since year 7.

Grammar is likely to be much more structured and helpful with what comes after 6th form. Perhaps careers fairs or a range of interesting speakers, debating clubs etc if that's what your DD is interested in. Probably a greater sense of community.
My DC went the other way, for all sorts of reasons, private to 16 and then 6th form college. The wider, mixed sex, social circle was very beneficial. The college had good facilities, e.g. a theatre, helpful for a student who was interested in technical theatre. A promising engineering dept.
What was much less beneficial was the hands off approach, lack of careers guidance etc. Teachers came and went from courses, promised field trips didn't happen. Facilities weren't available. Some aspects of courses didn't run at all. Some courses were mis sold.
Very little support with uni applications.
Perhaps that's the right approach and students will find their way but it was unhelpful for my dyslexic DC and we had to find advice and extra tuition (viciously expensive) from outside the college.
So-socially, perfect and DC is still friends with some of their fellow students 10+ years later. Academically, less than perfect.

Very helpful comment, thank you.
She isn’t looking at the super-competitive courses. She prefers Geography/Business and is strongest in communication. She’s not a STEM/medicine/law type (I’ve definitely put her off medicine 😁) and she may even choose an apprenticeship.

To be honest, I just want her to have the best opportunities and the option to push herself if she decides to. I’m also a bit wary of the sheer size and diversity of a big state college and the risk of her falling in with the wrong crowd, so environment does matter for us. Having said that, she has been state-educated all her life and has a lovely mix of diverse and wonderful friends. it’s not about avoiding that, just about finding the right balance for her.

6th form is a chance to become more academically independent which will be important when they go to university and will be expected to be independent learners. Colleges are a bit more like universities in terms of the set up rather than a ‘school like’ environment.

It sounds like KGS will be a financial stretch so really look into what Esher can offer in terms of support/academic outcomes for the A levels she wants to do. You can always supplement with additional tutoring which will cost a fraction of £60k. That money can go towards supporting at university/house deposit etc. A lot of state 6th form colleges are not eligible for contextual offers for university admissions so I wouldn’t let that be a decider.

We are in the same boat being at state school but have a KGS offer for my DD too. She would like to stay at her current sixth form, but we would on balance prefer her to move to KGS (better academics and I think she’d be more ‘visible’ there). She’s become less keen on moving though as most of her friends will be staying at her current school.

I tried asking the school how many kids will be in the sixth form but didn’t get a response - have you heard anything? I would also love for her to go round the school again as it’s very hard to have to make such a big £££ commitment at this point.

One point on Esher - do they actually get any contextual offer advantage? No all state schools do (DD’s current school doesn’t).

If your DD is keen on KGS and already has friends there (and fees are doable) then I do think the school has a good value-add for sixth form.

There are lots of local state schools which would give more structure without the costs - are none of these your best of both option?

i don’t know the schools but yes, as @RollonMay17says, does the college bring a contextual offer? It’s not all state schools by any means. My dc were state school students and got none as I went to uni, we don’t tick other boxes (LAC etc) and don’t live in a deprived area. Don’t go state thinking that is an automatic benefit.

If she wants to go to uni she needs to get used to independent study otherwise she’s going to find the first term or even year incredibly difficult.

So it might be better for her to get used to that while you’re still around as a back up.

I feel like the benefits of private sixth form are limited. Your child is only there for around 18 months (although you’ll pay full fees for the last term when there are around 2 weeks of teaching before exams).

Most young people of 16-18 don’t take much advantage of the co-curriculars you’re paying dearly for unless they’re already very sporty or musical.

And if they’re already on course to achieve excellent GCSE grades they’ll likely be high achieving and motivated for A levels as well

Unless you have another £60k stashed away to pay her Uni fées, the money would be better spent on her Uni fées so she can graduate debt free.

100% agree with @clary - not all state school students get contextual offers, this would be impossible given that the significant majority of applicants are from state schools. Given local demographics, I would be surprised if Esher College was one where it was unusual to move on to a well-ranked university.

It sounds as though she might be suited to a school sixth form rather than college. Lots of state schools have their own 6th forms - aren't there any nearby?

I would go the other way and say unless your DD is applying for a highly competitive course where she needs to boost her grades to be noticed, then the benefits of moving to private might not be worth the fees. If you assume you will need private tutor support in either case, then there isn’t much you are gaining from the private 6th form. Might be better to try and get into Esher/Graveney or one of the state grammar schools in Kingston/Sutton.

Has she considered Tiffin?

Many friends children have been very happy with Esher, but my DC all decided to stay at their schools for sixth form.

Have you looked at schools nearby like Richard Challenor / Holy Cross? There are so many great options

She is also going to apply for Kingston Academy. DD does not want to stay at her current school.
Sadly, I don't have time/capacity to look through various local school 6th form reports and do the visits and comparison. And my DD is not keen on doing any detailed research either )

She picked Esher just because her friends go there. 🤷‍♀️

The problem with Tiffin is you don’t know until GCSE results day whether you have a place and it’s super competitive!

Well there is quite a big difference between Esher / KG / Tiffin / Holy Cross not to mention Kingston Academy. So you probably should do a little more research.

She won't get into Tiffin. I think students there mainly grades 8-9.
She will hopefully get decent grades but not all 9s.
Also I had mixed reviews about Tiffin esp in terms of the high rate of eating disorders etc.
Looking for a happy medium between academic workload and relaxed happy but motivated peers.

Many private school parents are going in the opposite direction and switch to state for the 6th form.

My DC is at private and tbh I don't see much value in going just for the last 18 months, at least not for 60K. Extra-curriculars will be limited as they'll be focusing on exams and applications. Sport will be better but is your DD doing it for A level?

If you worry she might fall in with the wrong crowd, this can happen in private school too.

Eating disorders, self harm and other MH issues exist in private schools too.