I know we've discussed this before because of St Olave's but I just read this article.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/students-unla ... um-grades/

It's been making me think because most schools I know about - not my children's school but both my dh's comprehensive school and the comprehensive a friends daughter goes to, as well as many others I know of - have a minimum grade requirement at the end of year 12. It seems that this is unlawful.
Does anyone know if schools can offer places just for year 12 and then offer another place for year 13? (Seems unlikely due to funding).
If schools have to stop this policy then it seems likely that grade requirements at sixth form entry will go up. For example both the schools mentioned above require 5 grade 4s as a minimum requirement for A levels but then one school requires 3 Ds to stay on into year 13 and the other requires DEE.
I appreciate that if it's illegal then it can't be done but I can kind of understand why schools do it. To give students a chance to see if they can manage A levels seems ok but at the same time if they are getting Us in AS levels then they're unlikely to gain much from remaining into year 13.
Maybe it's doing a disservice to children to be allowed to start A levels on the back of GCSE results that maybe suggest that A levels are not the right way to go? But many schools don't offer BTECs so then would lose a lot more pupils at the end of year 11.
Thoughts?
I

Our school used to require Cs in AS level to be allowed to continue to Y13. If you didn't get the Cs, you had the option of leaving or restarting Y12 with different subjects. The policy changed a few years ago - tying in with the more or less obsoletion of AS levels (as part of the eventual A2) and the fact that it was clear that it was not legal (although when AS levels were there, it sort of was legal as they all started doing AS levels, so it was a definitive transition point.

The entry requirements for the 6th form are amongst the highest in the country - a minimum of 54 points from the top 8 GCSEs. And, if a student does not get Cs in their end of Y12 exams, they are required to resit them again at the beginning of Y13. At that point, they have a discussion about whether starting again in Y12 might be a better option (if they don't improve) but, nothing is forced - if they decide to stick with it, academic support/intervention is put in place and some 6th form privileges can be removed to make sure they attend them. Ultimately it is to try and ensure the student does the best they can as, wit 54 points, the national alys system would suggest that they are perfectly capable of A*/A/B grades at A level.

Some selective schools with 6th form entry have no choice as they have to apply the same criteria to internal as external students.

But this isn’t about internal vs external. This is about all (at this point) internal students and the apparent continued cull half way through sixth form. This makes it very difficult for students on particular courses and for continuity and multiple other reasons. As a result of the Olaves debacle there was a reminder from the Government that admission at year 12 onto A level courses was for two years and only for serious reason could a child be excluded. The prediction of getting a c rather than an A did not warrant an exclusion from the A level course they were on.

The only way round it that I can think of is the achool managing to phrase its sixth form behaviour policy such that not working hard enough to get at least Grade x at the intermediate point (given potential shown by meeting entry requirements) constitutes a serious breach. But reasons to exclude have to be behavioural, not academic.

_________________
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx

Which could lead to a protracted appeals process as it would be difficult to prove that lack of effort is the cause of lower than 'predicted' performance.