Should your child stay at their present school for sixth form, or enrol in one of Surrey’s outstanding sixth form colleges? Perhaps a place at one of the borough’s much sought after grammars would be the right fit… or a specialist sport or art school… or even a state boarding school? Navigating your way through so many possibilities can be overwhelming. Teresa English takes a look at what’s available and when, where and how to work out what’s best for your child.
Why sixth form?
For some, joining sixth form can be an easy natural progression from GCSEs into A Levels. The subjects they want are available and being surrounded by teachers who have known you since you were 11 years old can be very supportive. For others, sixth form offers new possibilities in courses, qualifications, locations and a change of study style. Whatever your outlook, it's always worth exploring what’s out there; whether it's just to confirm your 16-year-old is excellently placed just where they are, or to consider whether it's time to find a new path to their goals.
There’s always some movement at the end of the Year 11 GCSEs which opens up the possibility of switching from your teenager’s current school and applying as a new entrant to the sixth form of a new secondary school, or sixth form college. Some parents switch from the independent sector to one of the region’s sixth form colleges, which are often ranked as outstanding by Ofsted.
Sixth form colleges consider themselves a bridge between school and university and some students appreciate the greater independence. Those whose GCSEs are heading for high grades may see it as a chance to gain a place in the sixth form of one of the region’s heavily oversubscribed grammars while others may be looking at more vocational careers, or simply want to make a fresh start.
When should you start?
If you feel you’ve just put the strenuous Year 7 applications behind you, you might be surprised at how quickly the idea of sixth form options starts cropping up, particularly as you approach the Year 9 GCSE option choices. If your child is showing ability in sports or the arts you should start planning as early as possible so that they are prepared for sports trials and auditions to take advantage of scholarships throughout their schooling. Prospective Medical students also need to be prepared for early UCAS applications in sixth form.
Applications procedures and policies can be in constant flux so you’ll need to monitor them. Most schools recommend you start looking in September of Year 10, to make sure that you hit important deadlines like registering for open days. If you want to apply to specialist schools, your child will need to have built up a track record and be prepared to handle interviews, and if you are hoping to get a scholarship or bursary, you may need to start thinking about entry requirements even earlier.
Where to start
Luckily it's now simple to access up to date information on; entry requirements, the courses and any extracurricular offered, directly from school websites as a first step. But how do you cut through the glossy superlatives to compare and evaluate whether a particular institution is the right one?
The school’s website is also a good way to check up on how actively a sixth form really participates in sporting or arts events, and how many pupils are actually involved, as are local newspaper reports. Schools have been known to boast climbing walls or rowing clubs, only for parents to find that lack of staff or funding means they are rarely utilised.
League Tables and guides
Using the government’s league tables at https://www.gov.uk/school-performance-tables, you can now do a filtered and comparable search for all institutions catering for 16-18-year-olds based on the previous year’s data, making it the most up to date comparison resource.
You can cast your net anywhere from as near as one mile up to 25 miles from your home, and see at a glance if the sixth form is independent, college or academy. You can compare how your top picks perform on items such as average A level grade, the average UCAS point score, Ofsted ratings and the percentage of students achieving AAB grades or higher. League tables are a good comparable starting point, but they don’t always tell the whole story, indeed, there are a host of articles complaining that it's a very narrow way to evaluate education and Ofsted officials have announced plans to place more emphasis on educational quality than exam results.
League tables work on averages. Large open-access colleges would argue that it is difficult to compare their much wider range of students achievements with that of a smaller high-grade entry Academy. Exam grades matter of course, but the range and type of qualifications offered, the “value added” effect, location, any specialisations, and the general atmosphere and approach to teaching could also be important deciding factors on whether a particular school is the right one for your very individual 16-18-year-old.
It may be stating the obvious to suggest that it's easier for your child to get top grades in a sixth form/college that gets top results but consider how academic your child really is. Are they very ambitiously academic, determined to leave with a clutch of A stars and go straight to medical school or Oxbridge or would a slightly more relaxed environment suit them better? UCAS doesn’t just look at grades. Outside life as well, can really enhance the application
The endless statistics can be mind-numbing and difficult to compare. As a starting point, one very basic rule of thumb is to look at the subjects you think your child might want to do and see what per cent gets C and above. For example, if there are 100 kids doing English Literature and 20 per cent of those get a B or above… judging by past performance and allowing for increased interest in an A level subject - is your child likely to be in the top 20 per cent? Is this also true of science or do only the top 5 per cent get an A?
Ofsted
Ofsted reports a provide a good background and comparison of sixth forms, but consistent cuts to Ofsted’s budget and policy of exempting outstanding schools from routine inspection means you could be looking at reports that are over 5 years old.
UCAS
People think of UCAS as solely a university application body, but in fact, it has a wealth of information and advice for those trying to make post GCSE choices too. Students in Richmond upon Thames already apply for their Sixth Form options via https://www.ucasprogress.com. The site has information on what to look for at open days, information and explanation about the kinds of qualifications they can take post GCSE; including Cambridge Pre Us, International Baccalaureates, NVQs, BTEC Diplomas, and careers ideas and where to take these qualifications. You can also search for post-16 the different education provider types by distance to your home, and by qualifications offered.
Your own research
A parent with one student at a traditional grammar style sixth form and another at a sixth form college advised; “Read everything you can, look at different types of schools, talk to other parents, turn up to open day, listen to the speeches, and speak to subject teachers,” but she cautioned “after that both you and your teenager need to work out together how well you both feel the sixth form is going to suit their individual needs and goals - as even in the same family, one size really doesn’t fit all.”
If A level and Sixth form choices are proving difficult, you can research subjects/qualifications and careers at https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/, where you can also speak to an advisor or ask questions via a web chat.
Open Days
Open days are your chance to get a feel for a school’s atmosphere. They can form part of the application process and like buses, they often all come at once. So you might want to check out a few earlier, when your teen is not under the pressure of making an immediate decision, and to make sure you can compare a few of the different types of sixth form and dig beneath the glossy brochures and league tables.
It also gives your teenager an advance chance to think about different courses they might like and ask the subject teachers for advice. Sometimes visualising a life after GCSEs and focusing on your favourite subjects can be quite motivational. If you have the option of a guided tour by a current student, grab it. It’s a great way to see the school in action and for your teenager to see things from a student’s point of view. UCAS has produced a student’s guide to getting the most out of sixth form open days and the questions to ask https://www.ucas.com/further-education/post-16-qualifications/open-events.
Arrive early at an Open Day, particularly if you want a chance to speak directly to a subject teacher. If you don’t get a chance to do that, there’s nothing to stop you contacting the head of sixth form (in a considerate way) and asking further questions. You might consider popping along to fundraisers, like the annual school fete, rowing events or school drama productions to chat to current parents and students.
Questions to ask and other important points
Location - how far is too far?
Location seems obvious, but wider catchment areas for sixth forms give you the chance of applying to a sixth form that may have been tantalisingly out of reach in Year 7.
You’ll have to weigh up whether it's worth travel time taking a big bite out of your son or daughter’s day, however highly rated the school. Or whether studying nearer to home will compensate by reducing time pressures, giving their social lives and extracurricular activities a chance to develop locally.
This is particularly true of some specialist schools which accept students from a wide area, such as highly competitive art schools, like the Brit School or Italia Conte. They caution against extensive travel and far-flung students are encouraged to find accommodation near the school during the week, as one Italia parent said “it was a hard decision at first, but it has worked out so well. It's a demanding course and this has taken some of the time pressure off.”
How will sixth form prepare you for life after A Levels?
This infographic of the UCAS timeline of the 2019 entry application process, highlights how much your two years in further education will be focused on preparing for your departure from it. https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/media/4890671/ucas_entry_timeline__pdf_.pdf
If you look at the more traditional A Level to Higher Education route, the process of thinking about and researching your next steps starts shortly after joining sixth form in Year 12, and with UCAS applications underway at the start of your second year of sixth form.
Applications - check and check again
Application criteria and policies can vary from school to school and from year to year and are in a state of constant flux, so you need to keep a close eye on them to ensure you don’t miss important deadlines or changes in entry criteria. Richmond upon Thames schools applications are now online via UCAS Progress. Applications close at the end of January for September entry in the same year.
As an example of how an average sixth form college application where all the students will be newcomers works; for entry to a 1,800-strong state-funded, open access, sixth form like Esher College, application procedures and GCSE grade requirements are updated annually and published with the prospectus around April the year before you would be joining, so it’s important to double check that your teenager’s application will still meet the criteria and predicted grade requirement. Grades determine the amount, level and type of qualifications you can take beyond the minimum entry requirement.
“Applications used to rely on catchment area and date stamping, it was literally a race to reception to submit them,” but that’s changed so "you can’t rely on local wisdom or the details of how your neighbour’s son got in two years ago,” one former Esher College parent commented.
Currently, at Esher College, it’s a two-tier process with first, guaranteed and then open offers. Students who fit some of the criteria such as; location, or a feeder secondary school or those with siblings who attended the college within a certain time period, may be eligible for a guaranteed place and can apply early. Applications for September 2020 places open on July 2, 2019.
“Applications submitted during the Guaranteed phase and meeting the Guaranteed criteria will automatically result in the offer of a place,” Esher College says. Others are able to apply for an “open place,” from September 2019, using a ballot system and approximately 60% of total place offers are allocated this way.
As there will always be some movement at this stage, so a reserve list is created after the open offers have gone out.
Considering different types of schools
There are so many different types of schools available post 16 and if your teenager has particular needs, or talents in Sports or Arts which might lead to a vocational career or your family circumstances are changing you may want to look at some of the less traditional examples. A list of the range and definitions of the types of UK schools available can be found at https://www.gov.uk/types-of-school.
Sixth Form Colleges
One of the main advantages of sixth form colleges is that everything is focussed on the needs of the 16-18 year age group, including the all-important UCAS process and careers advice. Surrey has several that are ranked as outstanding by Ofsted including Esher College in Thames Ditton and Godalming College. They can be large institutions with specialist facilities and a broader range of subjects. Colleges are often said to act as a bridge between your two years of post 16 qualifications and life in the world of work, apprenticeships or further study. Students are given more independence in organising their studies. Everyone is in the same boat as a newcomer and it's a great opportunity for making new friends and study partners.
Joining the sixth form of another secondary school
Secondary schools are often glad to recruit incoming new students with a record of strong GCSE grades to their sixth forms. Your teen may able to switch to a more local school, or one that is stronger on the subjects they want to study, or has extracurricular resources that appeal to them, or is perhaps a second chance at a competitive entry academy. Key questions to ask at open days, in addition to the usual subject/extracurricular ones are; what proportion of the sixth form will be newcomers and how well a school integrates the new students.
It’s easy to see why parents may be attracted to switching to a sixth form at high performing non-fee paying schools that may have had an intensely competitive entry at Year 7, like the competitive grammar schools (most are now officially "academies") in Kingston upon Thames and Sutton such as Tiffin School, Tiffin School for Girls, Nonsuch High School for Girls, Sutton Grammar School, Wallington County Grammar School, Wallington High School for Girls and Wilson’s School, which have as many as 10 children competing for every Year 7 place in some years.
One example of a school which says it welcomes new recruits to its Sixth Form, is Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames, traditionally a boys school, but which is now including girls at sixth form from September 2019.
“We aim to admit around 80 new students each year to the Sixth Form, and we, therefore, expect about 40 per year to be girls, giving at least 80 girls in the Sixth Form overall and representing approximately 20-25% of the total number of Sixth Formers,” the school has announced. Applications for September 2020 entry open in August 2019.
The full grade requirements for these kinds of schools are published on school websites and could change each year. Tiffin Boys, for example, was asking for a minimum of 8 GCSE grades from their qualification list with an average grade of 6.625. Current students will be offered a place first if they meet the requirements. New places will go to the applicants with the highest average scores and they must have a grade 7, 8 or 9 in three subjects they want to study. A minimum of 40 places are offered to new students.
This opens up more sixth form opportunities for female candidates in Kingston as the nearby Tiffin Girls School is providing a minimum of 20 places for new sixth formers in 2019. Applications by current pupils are considered first. Turning up at the October open evening is “advised” by the school and applications usually close in the November before entry year. Some schools, such as Wilson’s don’t guarantee sixth form places to new entrants, but it may still be worth asking directly what your chances are for that particular year.
State-funded boarding
There are many reasons why teenagers might want to consider this option in sixth form. These schools often attract students with parents in the military or those who have jobs which mean moving frequently or travelling abroad. They admit the UK and other European Union nationals and children from outside the UK who have the “right of residence.”
Many have outstanding Ofsted ratings and high academic results, and competition for places can be fierce, so early research could help your application. A good place to start your search is https://stateboarding.org.uk/.
Many state-funded boarding schools offer specialist support to students aiming for a career in the Arts or Sports. For example, Harefield Academy “an elite academy with links to Watford Football Club;” offers a two-year BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport equivalent to 3 A-Levels, although sports students often add an A level course to boost their UCAS points, the school says. www.theharefieldacademy.org.
In general, at state borders, parents pay for the boarding and the education is free, but there’s often a provision for financial assistance. Two types of a bursary, “vulnerable” or “discretionary” are available for 16-19-year-olds. At schools like Gordon’s, a non-selective state boarding school in Woking for example, where they have a “great to good” programme covering sports and the arts, up to twelve places (six residential and six-day places) will be awarded for sports, visual arts or performing arts in the form of scholarships or bursaries. https://www.gordons.school
Faith Schools
Like many secondaries, places may open up in sixth forms of faith schools and some do take students who are not of their faith. Parents might consider a faith school because of strong academic results in sixth form or be attracted to a particular school’s reputation for discipline or moral guidance.
Demonstrating a commitment to the faith often heads the entry criteria when a school is oversubscribed. For example, at The London Oratory School sixth form, where Oxbridge entry is in double figures and 75% of university offers are Russell Group, there were 240 applications for the 40 Sixth Form places in September 2018. The school is quite clear that; “priority will always be given to Catholics.” A signed certificate of Catholic practice is usually required. Like many faith schools, the school is committed to “taking its fair share of children who are vulnerable and/or hard to place, as set out in locally agreed protocols,” it says, so it might be worth delving into the fine print if you feel your application might fall into that category. The Oratory sixth form details
At Salesian School’s Sixth Form, for example, a fully comprehensive Catholic Sixth Form in Chertsey, Surrey, “You do not have to be Catholic yourself to attend the college; simply willing to respect our beliefs and traditions;” the school says. “They do accept non-Catholics,” one current Salesian parent commented, but you are expected to at least show a willingness to take part in various events, “you can’t just sit out in the corridor,” she added. Salesian School sixth form details
There were 637 secondary faith schools in the UK by 2017 or 19% of all state-funded mainstream secondaries. Roman Catholic schools were the largest group at 9 per cent. State-funded faith schools governors are responsible for their own admission and staffing, rather than the local authority and are run like any other maintained school. They have to follow the National Curriculum and are inspected by Ofsted and often by a religious inspector.
Schools that specialise in sport
Traditionally students who excel in competitive sports at a regional or national level tend to already be enrolled in schools or extracurricular clubs that support these ambitions well before sixth form. “If you have a high-level athlete on your hands, they will probably have already been picked out and identified well before sixth form, and had advice about where to apply,” a tennis parent commented, which is why planning their educational path as early as possible is advised.
It would be a huge task to evaluate in one article all the many sports, at regional, national, or international level which are on offer at state or independent sixth forms in the South East, so the schools mentioned below are just given as examples, but as a starting point, the regional sports association or your local club should have more information and ideas about which schools in your area are the most active and successful in your child’s chosen sport.
Surrey boasts some excellent sports schools. The majority of these are independent but some scholarships are available. Check personally what the maximum scholarship is, a 25 per cent upper limit is considered a standard, bear in mind that these provisions vary both annually from school to school (See Essential Surrey's report - Best Sports Schools).
School Sports Magazine has produced a list of the UK’s top 100 state-funded sporting schools for 2018, compiled from more than 20 different sports in 120 different national competitions. Reaching the top 100 means you are in the top three per cent for sport of England’s schools, the magazine says. The list includes; St Charles Catholic College, London W10, Christ’s School, Richmond, Gordon’s School near Woking, and City of London Academy. (see attached spreadsheet - Top 100 states schools for sports)
Taking tennis as an example, Surrey has many active sixth forms, especially in the independent sector, although there are also some state-funded routes. Reeds School, for example, Tim Henman OBE’s alma mater, has The Reed's School Tennis Academy (RSTA) and is one of the 11 Lawn Tennis Association’s, (LTA’s) Regional Player Development Centres, RPDCs announced in 2018 as part of its 10-year strategy to improve development of up and coming players. The school offers a variety of sports scholarships to new co-ed sixth form applicants who are already playing tennis at the county level, as does St George’s College, Weybridge. Scholarship applications for 2020 sixth form entry at Reeds, for example, are October 2019 with assessments in November 2019. Surbiton High School, another independent Surrey school with a reputation for tennis, and which recently won the TES Sports Award for their ‘Sporting Choice for All’ Programme, also offers sports scholarships at sixth form, and in some cases means tested Church Schools Foundation Bursaries at sixth form.
There are different routes to studying whilst pursuing sporting success after 16. Some tennis hopefuls join a tennis academy, such as Dukes Meadow’s RPDC in Chiswick and take home or private tutoring to allow them to meet the demands of national and international tournaments. It's now designed for players between the ages of 10-14 who are regional, national or international level with the aim of allowing them to join new tennis initiatives for 14 to 18-year-olds, which have been set up at University of Stirling and Loughborough University, providing tennis development and education, from September 2019. This is a new initiative, and currently, there are only 16 places at each in the opening intake.
Both the state-funded Kingston College and Richmond Upon Thames College, provide sports training alongside post-16 education designed to allow you to study whilst developing as an athlete.
Kingston College has five established academies in Basketball, Men’s Football (in partnership with Staines Town FC, Women’s Football in Partnership with Fulham FC, Tennis and Trampolining. Richmond has academies in Men’s basketball, Football Development squads, Women’s netball and Men’s Rugby, such as and promises that “The curriculum will be flexible around the needs of the students as they progress throughout the season.” The academies aim to link with local clubs such as Richmond Rugby, for example, and have produced players such as Joe Marler who signed with Harlequins Rugby Team as a prop, the England U20s in the Junior World Championships and played for England in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
One key question you should ask, a tennis parent said, is “How would you feel if my teenager had to take off for a week for a tournament? Their response will tell you whether a college will support their sport.” As an example, Kingston has a range of BTEC sports and exercise science related diplomas, which have the potential to accrue the same UCAS points for university entry as A-Levels. One advantage is that the college’s course material is all online, allowing athletes to catch up on work missed whilst competing. This allowed several county players on the course to gain places on tennis or sports-related courses at Stirling, Bath and Nottingham universities. One tennis player who has played nationally and internationally, embarked on a BTEC course, and following on from that sat the US university entrance exams and she gained a tennis scholarship at a US University, “which was always the end goal,” her parent said, “we just had to find the best route to for her to get there.”
Schools that specialise in the Performing Arts
The Brit School in Croydon is one of the few performing arts and technology schools in the UK that are free to attend. It's also one of the best known with many well known former students including Adele, Jessie J, Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse and it is heavily oversubscribed. The application process takes around 10 months many applicants will have already attended Brit’s Saturday and holiday schools to help them prepare for the challenging auditions. At post-16, students take the 18 Unit Level 3 Extended Diploma, which is equivalent to three A Levels in the UCAS points system.
