Sixth
Form Colleges
What
is a Sixth Form College?
Most independent senior schools
will have a Sixth Form which may offer
- Advanced
Subsidiary GCE (AS)
- Advanced
GCE (A2) The A Level
- National
Qualifications in Scotland
- Vocational
A Levels
- The
International Baccalaureate
- If you would like assistance in selecting a Sixth form college click here
All of these can be
used as a means of entry to Universities or Further
Education Colleges.
Some senior schools
will not have a Sixth form and expect their pupils
to transfer to another school, possibly because
they are not sufficiently large in themselves to
offer a wide range of courses.
But what makes a Sixth
Form College?
Many senior schools or all throughs
will simply call their Sixth Form a College
and possibly house it in separate premises. Alternatively,
there are discrete institutions catering only for
Sixth formers usually City based, quite
large and offering a wider range of subjects, sometimes
including higher education courses as well. Whereas
independent senior schools often have on site boarding
facilities, the discrete Sixth Form Colleges
rarely have on site accommodation, but will usually
have arrangements for a variety of different priced
student accommodation nearby sometimes in private
homes. Does any of this matter?
How
should you choose a Sixth Form College?
The
first consideration is does it offer the required
courses? As a rule the smaller the school/college,
the smaller the range of A level courses. Most colleges are going to offer basic courses
English, mathematics, history etc,
- totalling
in the region of 20 to 24 courses but the larger
colleges may offer 40 or more, often including a
range of vocational courses which relate to specific
careers. The International Baccalaureate is available
in less than 100 independent schools see www.internationalbaccalaureate.co.uk
The second major consideration
is teaching experience, particularly if you are
considering a less popular course. The same rules
apply in selecting any school ask questions and
meet the College Principal and tutors.
The third consideration is class
size. It will normally have reduced to between 6
to 12 for A levels. Plainly
this permits more individual student attention,
but if it is too small, it could mean insufficient
interaction with other students
Fourthly, you should look at academic
success record. There is always controversy about
league tables because some schools are very selective
on entry, thereby ensuring their A level results
are invariably top rated. Many of such schools will
have A level pass rates
exceeding 95% and indeed some schools achieve more
than 65% A and B grades. This is obviously the kind
of track record which is excellent, especially as
entry to elite Universities (e.g
the Russell Group) will usually demand A or B grades.
However, before selecting a school on this basis,
do ask yourself if your son or daughter will thrive
in a high pressure academic environment. For more
information see www.leadingschools.co.uk
Fifthly, location may be important
to you. The majority of discrete Sixth
Form Colleges are centrally based in major cities.
However, there are many senior schools with Sixth
Forms in provincial locations. As a generalisation,
City based colleges are not going to have such a
wide range of school facilities such as swimming
pools, sports facilities and Arts / Drama centres.
They will usually make up for this by facilities
arranged with external bodies in the City.
If boarding facilities are important,
then a Senior
Independent School
will likely have more dedicated accommodation. City
based discrete colleges will normally have other
accommodation arrangements, which may be separate
bespoke student accommodation or simply a range
of student digs in private residences. This does
give the option of variety and price flexibility.
Parents need to be sure that there is adequate supervision
for under 18s.
A
Level Choices
Parents and students need to have
investigated which courses are required at A Level
in order to choose a Sixth Form
College.
Although success at GCSE will undoubtedly influence
A level preferences, the
majority of students attend Sixth Form
College
in order to go to University and thus you need a
reasonable idea of what University course and/or
career may be planned. Often you can get advice
from the Careers Adviser at the previous school,
but this can put you in a Catch 22 situation because
the school might not have such facilities at all
or not until the student enters the Sixth
Form.
How
do you apply?
Discrete Sixth Form Colleges
often have intakes exceeding 100 in any one year.
Entry criteria differ but will usually involve completion
of application forms, academic track record, references
and then an interview. Colleges at independent senior
schools will usually be different. Often, the majority
of the intake will be students progressing from
year 11 in the main school and there may only be
a limited number of places for external students,
in which case entry is likely to be more selective.
Places will unlikely be confirmed until the GCSE
results are available. Parents obviously need to
ask each school about its entrance procedures.
How
much will it cost?
Discrete Sixth Form Colleges
will typically price their tuition fees by number
of courses and terms. For example taking 3 A level
courses might cost between £4,000 to £4,500 per
term, but you might decide to take 1,2 or 4 courses
which might be a near pro rata price. It doesnt
usually work the same way at Sixth Form
Colleges within independent senior schools, where
there is often one fee regardless of courses and
most students will be expected to take 3 or 4 A
levels. See
If you are concerned about costs
of both Sixth Form Colleges and University
Costs try www.schoolfees.org
Further
information
If you would like assistance in
selecting a Sixth form college click
here
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