Grammar schools leavers destination

[cheerio1357]

Also careers destinations change over time. The person who gets a job at 21 after university in a bank might leave and get a job somewhere else by 27. It would be impossible to collate meaningful data about careers I would have thought.
I believe around 30% of those studying medicine at Oxford do not progress and go onto their foundation years as doctors so even degrees do not really tell you always what people choose then to do.

I am also trying to figure out whether other vocations even stand a chance when a DC is in a grammar school. Hopefully yes. Universities mostly publish the industries or even specific names of companies where their students gain a job but difficult to establish what it is that grammar school pupils like to do; whether it is mainly STEM or opportunities for other off the beaten path careers..

I think they do. I see a large number of medical students and I really genuinely don't see anyone who says their school pushed them down that path (not like my day where clever children who liked sciences were definitely "encouraged" to do medicine) - and I do ask those questions to nearly all my students. I do see a worrying number whose families have insisted on it as a destination though. I don't know whether schools actively ask the questions to try and weed those children out. By far the best students we see are those who are doing it because of a genuine passion for it.

Thank you, that is good to know. I have attended open evenings but there are these q's which only pop into your head when you leave the place.

[ToadMum]

Also careers destinations change over time. The person who gets a job at 21 after university in a bank might leave and get a job somewhere else by 27. It would be impossible to collate meaningful data about careers I would have thought.
I believe around 30% of those studying medicine at Oxford do not progress and go onto their foundation years as doctors so even degrees do not really tell you always what people choose then to do.

I am also trying to figure out whether other vocations even stand a chance when a DC is in a grammar school. Hopefully yes. Universities mostly publish the industries or even specific names of companies where their students gain a job but difficult to establish what it is that grammar school pupils like to do; whether it is mainly STEM or opportunities for other off the beaten path careers..

I think they do. I see a large number of medical students and I really genuinely don't see anyone who says their school pushed them down that path (not like my day where clever children who liked sciences were definitely "encouraged" to do medicine) - and I do ask those questions to nearly all my students. I do see a worrying number whose families have insisted on it as a destination though. I don't know whether schools actively ask the questions to try and weed those children out. By far the best students we see are those who are doing it because of a genuine passion for it.

Sadly, at least at some open evenings, questions from certain parents are still more likely to be, 'How many students do you get into Oxbridge / Medicine / both - because that is what we need to know to judge whether this is a good school?', rather than, 'You won't try to make my DC go to Oxbridge / do Medicine / both' just because they're clever and it would boost your place in the rankings, will you?'.

[Guest55]

No-one ever asked me how many students we got into Oxbridge or medicine or both. Perhaps schools outside London are more 'normal'?

[ToadMum]

No-one ever asked me how many students we got into Oxbridge or medicine or both. Perhaps schools outside London are more 'normal'?

I seriously can't remember whether it was asked at Westcliff or Southend when we were doing the rounds most recently - with DS2 - but it definitely was at KEGS.

And the subject of the school helping it's students achieve their desired outcomes was nicely put over by the HT, I seem to remember. I wonder how many parents decided not to bother, on hearing that one of the desired outcomes that the school had recently helped a student achieve was an apprenticeship with a local solicitor? .

[Guest55]

Chelmsford [KEGS] is a prime commuting area so I guess that would explain it there?

[cheerio1357]

No-one ever asked me how many students we got into Oxbridge or medicine or both. Perhaps schools outside London are more 'normal'?

I am only trying to fill in gaps in my understanding here: are you affiliated with a GS? Thanks!

[Guest55]

Yes, taught in one on SLT for a number of years.

[Stroller]

Universities mostly publish the industries or even specific names of companies where their students gain a job but difficult to establish what it is that grammar school pupils like to do; whether it is mainly STEM or opportunities for other off the beaten path careers..

If universities try to bask in the reflected glory of their successful students, they must also claim the unsuccessful ones. Either they influence, or they don’t. How long do you think we’ll have to wait before we can expect to see Matthew Falder’s prison abode in the Cambridge prospectus and on their destination list? That is the difficulty of leavers’ destinations lists. Just because an educational institution worked for one individual, does NOT mean it will work for yours.

[anotherdad]

No-one ever asked me how many students we got into Oxbridge or medicine or both. Perhaps schools outside London are more 'normal'?

I’m sad to say that my daughter encounters lots of parents asking those exact questions when she helps out at the prospective parents’ evenings (Bucks grammar school), both for the youngsters (year 6s) and prospective sixth form entrants. It clearly is a yardstick for many parents.

[Guest55]

Anotherdad - I think that just reflects the big differences between some of the Bucks GS.