N London 6th form offers

[Barnsleybonuz]

Does anyone know when the North London state school offers for 6th forms are likely to come out?

we have applied to Woodhouse, Fortismere, APS and Camden.

Would be lovely to have some idea of if we are going to have any offers prior to getting deep into revision and exam territory. None of them seem to have designated offer days

Can I please check what her mock results were? Quite ambitious to predict 9s!

My way of comparison, DS's for a few marks off a 9 in English Lang and Lit and French but still only given a 8 by the school to Woodhouse!

Woodhouse confirmed that he meets the average point score but his mock grade for maths is too low. They said they will accept a revised grade if school emails them or he can change courses.

@Summertimemadness2026

My DS1 got an offer for Woodhouse in 2023, to study Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Philosophy.

I think giving mock results rather than predictions is a bit harsh, but I also think some subjects are more predictable than others. Did your DS get a 7 for Maths mocks?

While minimum for his application year was 7 for Maths and 8 for Further Maths, I suspect applicants to study Maths A level are more likely than in other subjects, especially essay subjects, to apply with predictions (and/or mock results) of a 9 or 8. My theory is based on DS1's experience.

While I'm sure students can improve mocks grades for Maths at GCSE, DS1 was already getting 9s at mocks and predictions for Maths and Triple Science, whereas in writing subjects I think he got 4-6 in mocks, including Religious Studies (his closest GCSE subject to Philosophy). He got his 4 9s predicted, and improved on mocks in everything else - 2 8s, 2 7s, 1 6, so 8 average across 9 subjects, 8.25 in 8 best. He already knew at application stage that Maths was the subject he wanted to study at university, though he also looked at Engineering. And he did very well, but even starting with 9 in Maths, A level was quite a leap, and a lot of hard work, for him.

@Summertimemadness2026 she's predicted 8 in Maths, definitely wasn't a 9, may have been borderline 7. But they probably get very few German applicants - there were 3 in Y13 and 7 in y 12- so that might have worked in her favour!

She got an offer from Marylebone too but different subjects, Maths, Economics and English I think. No religion here but she's at a grammar school which anecdotally they seem to like.

Thanks both. Yes, I am not sure he would want to do Maths A-level without an 8 at least so one to think over. Weird as he used to be amazing at Maths (used to consistently get 8/9s/full marks on tests during year 10) but seems to have dropped off a bit and now his humanities subjects (English, History etc) are way stronger. He even mentioned doing English Lit A-level the other day. So definitely one to think about. Not sure what to do about Woodhouse. He is actually not that keen on going anywhere super academic so may not be suited to him anyway. But good to have it as an option.

We're not religious and my kids didn't go to church schools, but DS1 chose Religious Studies GCSE claiming to have heard that it was an easy option. I don't think that was true at all, especially for kids who don't grow up with regular religious worship. Slightly surprisingly, he got nearly maximum marks in the paper on Islam, which may have pulled his grade up to 7!

I don’t understand this either. This sounds awful and I can imagine lots of kids would not be able to cope with the uncertainty and stress at all. Running about with pieces of paper and queueing up only to potentially miss out on your top choice because you didn’t run there quick enough?

I think that's why they have a waiting list when offers have initially been made. And Woodhouse enrolment of those who have offers and have met the conditions is online.

It wasn't that chaotic in 2023, when DS1 took his GCSEs. That was a larger year too. He was dithering on a choice between 2 of his 5 offers until very late, Woodhouse and APS (in person enrolment). One of his friends was on a waiting list for a Music Technology option, combined with 3 A levels, and he was offered a place once all offer holders had enrolled or let the school know they were going elsewhere. It may be that this has actually tightened a bit as financial pressures on schools are greater, and they can't afford the risk of having too many unfilled places available (staffing ratios etc).

LAET offers are out. DD got a place but it's not one of her top choices as is too similar to her current surroundings. She only wants to leave for a better commute/nicer part of town.

Good luck to all those waiting.

That subject is one of DS choices and there are only 12 places. I expect that’s one of the reasons he’s waitlisted.

Sorry to be naive to this but treating 6th forms like universities for entrance is a bit shit for social cohesion for still quite young kids isn’t it? I mean, what does this mean for the kids who don’t get the stellar GCSE grades? they’re only 16!
Friendship groups broken up and travelling across town to wherever will take them? what a harsh life lesson. Please tell me that these schools will reserve some places with more average grades for the kids who did their GCSEs in the secondaries of these sixth forms. (Where there is a secondary attached). And not just wash their hands of them?

Thanks this is reassuring to hear

@CurrentHun I think as ever on MN the picture is a bit distorted. A lot of the schools on this thread are the ones that want the highest grades.

There are plenty of schools that offer 5s and 6s for people to go to 6th form - Candi and La Swap are 2 6th form colleges that do - and other schools thst go so the way through that will allow pupils to stay on with lower grades, though I think if you're getting 4s, you would struggle with A levels.

The LAEs & Woodhoues are purely selective 6th forms so can pick any choose. That said, I believe LAET has lower offers for children living in close to the school.

Actually I disagree with you, at 16 they are not young kids and our kids need to be resilient. Having some highly selective 6th form is fine, it really is and it’s real life they are at an age where it’s not good for them to be mollycoddled and everything to be equal.

Woodhouse and the LAE schools are standalone 6th forms and yes they take the students with the highest grades, that’s perfectly reasonable

Also to say that at 16 it’s not fair to break up friendship groups and for kids to travel across town, again they are not babies and it’s a decision they make for themselves

There are plenty of other less selective 6th forms and most of the kids applying to these places also have the option to stay at their current schools.

There is also an argument as to whether A levels are the best route for kids who aren’t achieving mainly 6 and above

DS also got a LAET offer (his first choice) and luckily most of his friends who applied did too. Though I understand that on the day they basically fill up from the top grades down so it’s not guaranteed.

In our area hardly any of the schools have sixth forms and our borough doesn’t have very good college options so I’m glad there are options in other boroughs.

Hi, DS forgot to apply to APS but they told him to just reapply on the day with his results in hand. Sounds like they will be offering quite a few places on the day!

Agree with your observation - not heard all together great things about the lower school either although massively popular in our neck of the woods. Were their GCSE results even that good in 2025? Thought they had dropped quite a bit.

Does anyone have an offer from Fortismere yet?

Religious studies may seem easier especially if you follow a faith but many schools just do the single tier paper so have to be mistake free to get 7,8 or 9

My DC seems to think they’ve offered to Muswell Hill kids but our account is still saying pending. It’s v frustrating

That would be a bit weird, surely? I could be wrong but I don't think they have any feeder school or preference for N10, unless they are making offers by distance? My eldest is at the sixth form there and I recall getting an offer pretty quickly and his grades were a lot worse than DS2 so no idea whats's going on.

I thought it was rather odd too and I can’t vouch for his information being accurate.

Any news from Fortismere Barnsley?

Not a word, I’ve emailed twice for an update and no response.

Me neither!

I'd like to hear the pros and cons of the 6th form at Camden School for Girls vs Woodhouse.

A bonus question for Jewish parents: please let me know about your child's experience as a Jewish pupil at either of these places in the last couple of years.

Thank you.

Its standard to be there in person to enrol, there is no attitude in this at all.