Will eight grade 9s be needed for Tiffin Boys Sixth Form entry?

[IrishPetal]

Does everyone think you’ll need eight 9s to get into Tiffin Boys 6th form this year?

Loads leaving our local independent schools to try for Tiffin 6th form this year (post VAT) so am worrying the odds are smaller than ever!

Yes they are excellent results @RoseredvelvetCan I ask is your dc in private or state & are you local to the school or further out.

We had Maths , Chemistry, Physics and Economics.. In Catchment as we never got any out of catchment mail in Jan. Anyway we got an offer from Harris Westminster which was always our first choice. But I am surprised.. They said they had 90 places for girls and I am surprised even 7 9s and 1 8s couldn't get us offer.

We are in catchment, I think they probably don't have many spaces in STEM & take girls too. They mustve had a lot of applicants with all 9s & closer.

@novamiaon paper yes but in reality schools don’t always.

But I would think many local dc would have high GCSE grades so competition is fierce

If you have evidence that they don't then you can appeal and/or lodge a formal complaint.

State schools are bound by law to publish admissions policies that align with the national code, and to follow them.

Only private schools can do what they want.

@novamiaIm not sure how but I seem to have confused you. Of course schools are meant to follow their policies but that doesn’t mean they do, have you really never heard about schools that don’t? The Catholic school I attended definitely did not & it wasn’t an isolated case.

I’m not saying Tiffin does at all, I think the competition locally is just so fierce. I know plenty of dc every year who do not get a place via the 11+ but will go on to get excellent grades in other local schools, state & private.

You haven't confused me (though I recommend you use 'reply' rather than just tagging me, so I know which post you're replying to).

You asked "do they have a preference when taking external dc from particular schools?" and "does it help to have more than 8" grade 9s, to which the official answer is no.

If anyone had evidence that they did otherwise they'd probably be quietly lodging an appeal in full knowledge that they had a good case rather than telling everyone on Mumsnet about it.

Just got a rejection - very surprised as DS has all 9s. Maybe it comes down to who put their results into applicaa first yesterday?

A lot of it might turn on how many internal candidates met the sixth form requirements. In my DD's sixth form intake into Tiffin two years ago I understand that they had an unusual number of internal candidates who did not meet the grade requirements. There were probably more spaces for externals that year.

Also in response to Novamia I'd be surprised if anyone bothered to appeal. On any view all of these candidates are extremely bright and will do well anywhere. Having had a daughter go through the Tiffin sixth form over the past 2 years it is great in many ways but by no means perfect. Dd2 has chosen to go to a different high performing sixth form (although now reading the above it seems likely Dd2 would not have got into Tiffin anyway even though she has almost exactly same grades as Dd1!).

Before they updated their admissions policy to base decisions on actual grades rather than subjective predictions, people certainly did appeal or threaten to appeal. That's what bounced them into changing it.

If students use applicaa for multiple applications the system forces them to rank them in preference order, and the schools see the rankings. They shouldn't use the info to make decisions but, to be on the safe side, its a good idea to use a different account for each application.

I wonder if the private school VAT is relevant ie far more applications? I’ve never heard of anyone who lives near us NOT getting in to Tiffin 6th form with all 9s. DS was in the running for a music scholarship too 😭. Guess we’ll never know because it’s down to subject choices as well as distance

Are you sure this wasn't some clerical error? It doesn't sound right to me. Have you called the school to find out if they made a mistake? I can't imagine them rejecting a pupil who got all 9s.

Tiffin has had it's best set of GCSE results this year, it is very likely they have more internal students than in previous years. They have an obligation to take any internal students that attain the entry requirements and this maybe why so many external students are being rejected this year even with all 9s. Subject choice also plays a big part - if your son wanted to do STEM the odds of them getting a place drop, external candidates much more likely to get in if they are wanting to do humanities or MFL etc

DD also rejected for Maths/STEM (DD 9 x 9s, inner area). Think they could have been more honest about this at the open day to help with disappointments (that Maths/STEM classes likely to be mostly/all boys, and internal candidates).

Excellent point. Totally agree.

Just wondering if anyone has actually received an offer this year and would be willing to share grades and subjects? Trying to manage expectations for next year …

I know of two girls who got in. Both with seven 9s (so not a clean sweep) and both doing English, French, history

I think many people just read the high level description of their admissions policy rather than the actual policy, which is here: https://www.tiffinschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Admissions-Policy-2026-27-Adopted-February-2025.pdf

It says "It is important to note that there is no guarantee of a place being available for all external applicants. Following publication of GCSE results ...places will be allocated to students who meet the entry criteria in the order specified ... subject to maximum set sizes not being exceeded in individual subjects . Applicants ...will be ranked by their GCSE points score, based upon their GCSE results in their best 8 GCSEs from the qualifying list" [my emphasis]

So having nine 9's is no better than having eight 9's, and might even be worse if some of the 9's aren't on the qualifying list or the individual subjects are very competitive. Seven 9's or less will be fine in some subjects, but not others.

thanks for info. So it seems that maybe some stem subjects are full with internal candidates before they even start looking at externals?

And if one of the subjects you apply for is full they just cross you off the list and move down to the next person? I wonder why they can’t just add an extra eg physics class if they have lots of stem applicants with 8 grade 9s?

Yes was aware of all this. There isn’t any advantage to having more than eight 9s as they only ask for the top 8 anyway.

It’s just surprising that even living close and getting full 9s doesn’t get you in - either it was full of internal candidates in those subjects or there were others living closer. It is what it is.

Either full of internal candidates or there were externals living closer. It did take them until yesterday afternoon to break the news, which is also curious. As is the fact that there was no mention of a waiting list. Not everyone will have accepted a place if offered.

I do think more fair warning could have been given about STEM subjects. I do know a boy who got
in last year from much further away than us to do biology, chemistry and maths - so maybe it’s the physics part? I guess they can’t just put on another class as they’d have to increase staffing and find the space etc

Doesn’t bode well for us for next year but helpful for tempering expectations.

Did their letter include info on how to appeal? It should have done, because its a statutory requirement, but I know they haven't included it in previous years.

If you appeal, then they will have to reveal exactly how the courses were filled. There's a chance you might find that they gave some leeway to one more internal candidates who didn't quite meet the minimum threshold of 56 points in their best 8 subjects - I know for a fact that they have been lenient in the past, despite having no formal exceptional circumstances clause. If something like that clearly prevented your dc getting an offer then the appeal would be successful.

We knew the policy (subject numbers, etc. and of course there's no guarantee) but hadn't fully accepted, perhaps naively, that there were so few STEM places for girls (and external boys). We asked about this at open day but it wasn't presented as divided as it seems; it was suggested that they try to expand maths/further maths to fit as many in as they were so committed to it and they were hugely encouraging to my DD. I suppose it looks bad to tell enthusiastic STEM girls that they are much less likely/only have a small chance of getting in unless choosing arts /humanities/languages. For info for those applying next year, we know a few girls with places for this year for arts/humanities with top or slightly lower grades.