Appealing for 6th form

[Tolstoy]

Thank you S-A I knew I had read that somewhere and was desperately trawling to find it

[Sally-Anne]

Thank you S-A I knew I had read that somewhere and was desperately trawling to find it

The word "must" in the Admissions Code has legal force. I will send you a copy of the Code, just in case ...

[Warks mum]

I thought it was completely the opposite....! My understanding was that if the school allows external applicants to enter in the 6th Form, the entry qualifications/criteria have to be the same.

Clearly the technical answer is that the criteria are the same, but the effect of over subscription is that external candidates have a higher bar...

[Rob Clark]

In Bucks it doesn't work quite like that – we have catchment areas which also apply to the Sixth Form and most of the GSs take extra students into Y12 so if you meet the minimum criteria (both general and subject-specific) and live within catchment you will get a place. At least I think that's right – Sally-Anne?

That said, tolstoy is asking about an upper school not a GS and I don't think many of the Bucks Upper Schools are oversubscribed in the Sixth Form so it's definitely worth asking some questions of the school

[Sally-Anne]

In Bucks it doesn't work quite like that – we have catchment areas which also apply to the Sixth Form and most of the GSs take extra students into Y12 so if you meet the minimum criteria (both general and subject-specific) and live within catchment you will get a place. At least I think that's right – Sally-Anne?

Yes, essentially the same as for Y7 - a minimum score required (n number of GCSE points/grades instead of the 121 pass mark at 11+) and then the oversubscription rules kick in, primarily based on distance, with priority given to catchment.

Overall there isn't a shortage of 6th form places at either GS or US in Bucks, although how much that has changed this year with the new rules on remaining in education or training until the age of 17, is hard to tell.

[scary mum]

I know we were told that BGS has the largest year 12 ever - whether that's due to the school becoming more popular or the requirement to stay on in education etc. I also know that they are more strict in applying their 6th form criteria than they used to be. I imagine they aren't alone in this.

[southbucks3]

Certain subjects tend to be over subscribed, biology and chemistry for example, I know last year even risborough upper could demand b grades as well a minimum 5 a-c gcse Inc maths and English to study in some popular subjects, a friend's boy had to travel to Milton Keynes to get the sixth form place he wanted studying what he wanted when they moved here last year, he was just short of the minimum 6 b grade gcse that many ask for, not sure what he wanted to study though, I will find out.

[Tolstoy]

I am guessing that when the rules change insisting that DC stay on until 18 at pretty much the same time as the GCSEs return to one off exams rather than modular courses there is going to be difficulty getting local 6th form places for many DC and not all will be able to afford to travel. Had my DS done modular exams he probably wouldn't be in the position he is so I do think it unfair to be making a like for like comparison. Milton keys and Oxford college are both oversubscribed for GCSE resits this year. There is a gap that desperately needs filling before those rules come into effect.

[Etienne]

As mentioned further above, some 6th form courses might be oversubscribed.

There is a right of appeal against the refusal of a 6th form place - but not (as far as I can see) against the fact that a particular course is full.

The previous (2010) Admissions Code was a bit clearer on this point:

Where the admission authority has not admitted up to its published admission number [for external 6th form applicants], it cannot refuse to admit applicants who have met the minimum entry requirements for the school sixth form but whose chosen course (or courses) are full. In these cases, the admission authority must offer a place whilst offering alternative course options.

The current Admissions Code limits itself to:

In the case of sixth form applications, a meeting may be held to discuss options and academic entry requirements for particular courses, but this meeting cannot form part of the decision making process on whether to offer a place.

[Sally-Anne]

The Code really is weak in this whole area, IMHO. A scenario:

:: A child applies to a new school to take e.g. Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths.

:: One of the subjects is already oversubscribed among internal pupils, or the subject combination cannot be accommodated on the timetable.

:: The child is therefore not offered a place.

:: The child would be willing to reconsider their choices in order to gain admission.

:: Despite that, no alternatives are presented by the school, and they are not required to do so by the Code.

:: That then becomes a refusal to admit, and triggers an appeal, where it emerges that the child would have quite happily substituted e.g. Economics for Maths in the first place ...

A child who stumbles upon the wrong subject choices can just be deemed "an administrative nuisance" and cast into the wilderness, while another child who chose the right combination of subjects at first guess could gain an offer of a place ahead of them, leaving "wilderness child" (or "wilderness parents") to face an appeal.

I suspect that the old Code caused problems because parents would exert their right to gain admission and then create a shed-load of trouble for schools by demanding timetable changes.

What the new Code should have done is to make it compulsory for schools to provide the opportunity to change choices in the event of over-subscription of subjects or timetable clashes. That would force schools to try to broker a solution, and if none could be found, the option of an appeal would be virtually null and void.

Beyond that, the Code provides no guidance as to how schools should prioritise the allocation of scarce subject places for external applicants. Unless the school's own 6th form admissions policy addresses that issue (and I am still looking for one that does), there is an opportunity for all sorts of shenanigans and arbitrary decision making.

The more I look at the Code in relation to 6th form admissions, the more I conclude that it is an unloved, dusty and cobwebby corner of the whole Admissions process.

The view taken in 2011/2012 (at a time when post-16 education or training was not compulsory) seems to have been that those who were going to make the cut for 6th form would be obvious, and the rest could all move on to college or work, so there was no need for more detailed arrangements. That is no longer the case.