Colchester CRGS Sixth Form - external candidates

[zanymum]

I believe CRGS have sent out invites for interviews to external six form candidates already. Anyone else been called for interview? My DS hasn't received one , not yet anyway , and he worked so darned hard for the mocks getting 998888776 . Anyone know what happens now ie is that it until the GCSE results in August? Might DS still get called for interview? Are offers made to candidates who are not called for interview?

[hermanmunster]

I don't think it is an interview as such, it is a meeting re subjects and doesn't form part of the selection process - have a look at the policy here https://www.crgs.co.uk/132/admissions-policy" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Is it possible that you live too far away and they have many closer candidates?

[zanymum]

Does anyone know when CRGS start making offers to external candidates for sixth form places?

hermanmunster : Thank you for your response. I did read that line in the policy but it isn't clear to me how that fits in with the making of offers ... it would be really awful to be interviewed and not offered a place.
The child we know who has an interview lives further away than us. We live in Chelmsford.
I just pray that CRGS aren't going by DS's last summer's exam results rather than recent mock results cos DS has really pulled his grades up since last summer.

Anyone one else out there hoping for a place in CRGS sixth form?

[hermanmunster]

I am pretty sure that the admissions code for state schools prohibits using interviews to decide on places, seems that are just discussing subjects etc.

Re what info they use - it looks like they use a range of info / results , presume he must have had a report from his current school - any idea what they put in that?

PS looks like they aiming to let people know by the end of Feb half term. I see the application had to be in by 1st Dec - would he have done the mocks by then, suppose it depends on when they asked for the reference from the current school - whether that was before or after mocks

[ToadMum]

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 19_Dec.pdf

See in particular para 1.9, (g) and (m).

Schools are permitted to offer places to all internal candidates meeting the requirements, so places offered out to external candidates will depend on the planned class organisation and possible timetabling for the subjects requested.

The 'report' from the current school should confine itself to confirming predicted grades, possibly suitability for further study in desired courses and the like.

[zanymum]

Thanks for all the info.
It is possible mock results came out after reference returned. Will follow that one up with and make sure CRGS have mocks.
Fingers crossed and good luck to anyone else waiting for an offer .

[hoptoit]

Hi, just wanted to say that my daughter applied with following mocks: 9,9 and the rest are all 8s as well as already having achieved 2 GCSE's at grade 9 sat last year, so essentially 99998888 etc and didn't even get an interview, clearly not good enough. Go figure?!?

[zanymum]

hoptoit: Your daughter must be working so hard! I'm sure she will do brilliantly in the actual GCSEs. Needless to say we've not heard a sausage from CRGS either.

[loobylou]

It may be because of the subjects your children wish to study. I get the impression that external candidates are less likely to get places if they want to do Maths, Physics and Chemistry and much more likely if they want to do less popular subjects.

[hoptoit]

I tend to agree with you, loobylou. My daughters choices were Maths, Further Maths, Physics and RS. Oh well. She is a bit flummoxed, understandably so though, as she tells me that girls with lower grade mocks secured a place. Not sure how CRGS works.... The only thing that I can think of is that they didn't get the mocks results in time as they came out in the first 2 weeks of January, however, when I spoke with the head of 6th Form admissions at the Open Day, she told me that they request mocks from schools so they should've had them....