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!

Unfortunately, even Tiffin struggles to recruit physics teachers. My DC did physics there and the teaching was disappointing. The students still do well, because they are very bright, and ambitious, and of course some have tutors too (in fact some have physics tutors who are ex-Tiffin teachers, because they can charge a premium and make a mint).

We found that the best things about Tiffin Sixth Form were the extra-curricular opportunities and the UCAS prep, not the teaching.

100pc agree with all of this. It would be a lot fairer to manage expectations at the application stage - all the kids I know would have assumed that if they worked really hard and got the eight 9s that they would have an excellent chance of getting in, whatever their subject. We were told if you were doing less popular subjects then you would likely get away with slightly lower grades. If I’d known it was virtually impossible to get in for physics and/ or maths we wouldn’t even have bothered applying.
DS spent such a long time preparing for his music audition there as well! Gah

This is really interesting, thank you. I heard similar about Chemistry teaching from a friend whose son has just left there (to go to a top medical school to be fair!). She said every parent she knew had a tutor for their son in STEM subjects, which really shocked me

If anyone is interested I guess they could make a freedom of information request for how many girls have been given places in each of these subjects this year: Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Computer Science. If there are hardly any girls in these subjects this year then on one view it’s not really a mixed sixth form this year and is perpetuating gender stereotypes about what subjects girls study.

The external places are open to boys too, so any FOI request should ask for the number of external places in each subject, not just the number of places for girls.

It is a boys' school, which has opened its sixth form to girls (as well as boys) to help fill its undersubscribed courses. It is inevitable that there will be fewer external places in subjects that are popular with its own students.

I don't think parents of girls can complain because, locally, there are more selective state sixth form options for girls than there are for boys. Tiffin Girls School doesn't have boys in its sixth form to even things out.

@TheCoolTiger Or does it say more about the insecurities and success at all costs attitude of the parents?

Agree with this.

To suggest that it perpetuating gender stereotypes is just silly - there is no evidence for this. They rightly have to take internal students first and would take external students both girls and boys if they could. People have just been unlucky this year most likely due to the number of internal students continuing in the sixth form.

Haha I don’t think so. It’s just about not being given an honest picture. What the hell does insecurity have to do with it? With little chance of getting a place, parents and kids know to see Tiffin as a long shot. It isn’t the be all and end all anyway.

Most likely. But surely the vast majority of internal students stay on every single year? And most of those have always done STEM.

Interestingly a significant number of Tiffin Girls pupils apply to Tiffin Boys for 6th form. I wonder if Tiffin Girls ends up undersubscribed in some courses.

@TheCoolTiger From the tutoring I’ve seen, admittedly not for Tiffin, it’s about parents having doubts about their dc. They are not secure in trusting dc or living with the less than stellar achievements of dc. It’s definitely about parents being comfortable with their dc and attainments - wanting more is an insecurity.