Choosing Your Options For The Sixth Form: Fill & Download for Free

I don’t think it is possible to answer this question helpfully at present, because the arrangment of post-16 education isn’t the same in all parts of the UK (I assume you are UK-based). “College” can mean a sixth form college, which will be largely academic, an FE college which will be largely vocational, or a tertiary college which will do both; “sixth form” could mean a sixth form in a school, or a sixth form college. And without knowing where you are, and what the system is in your area, I can’t give you very specific guidance.The other factor, of course, is you. Are you academically inclined, or more interested in practical things - what kind of course do you want to do? The place you go to needs to be able to offer what you want.In general, my experience tells me that sixth form colleges, where available, are an excellent option for many students, especially students who want to go on to university; you get a level of semi-independence that is a good halfway-house between the structure of school and the unstructured nature of university life. You are also likely to get a much wider range of subjects offered to you than in a school sixth form, with teachers who have far more experience of sixth form teaching than in most schools, so it can be a very good answer.However, if your choice is between the sixth form in a school, and an FE college that also has some A level classes, then the school sixth form might be the better option. As I said, without knowing more about the system in your area, and what you want out of the next two years, it isn’t possible to be much more helpful than this!

Middle school and high school is only a thing in certain boroughs. Most of us have secondary school (6th-10th grade) and sixth form (11th/12th grade).You choose option subjects at some point in year 9 and study them for GCSE in year 10 and 11. You apply to sixth forms (you don't have to go, and they can reject you) to study two or three subjects for A Level, which is what you need for university.College here is an alternative to sixth form. You can also get a apprenticeship or go straight into work at 16.In sixth form, you don't have 'required courses'. You don't have to do English or maths (not math. It's maths here) or PE (gym) if you don't want to.It's a lot harder to skip a year and we don't have AP courses. The administration puts us into classes, either 'set' (based on grades) or 'mixed' (random). Most schools have either a weekly or biweekly timetable - you won't have the same classes everyday.You wear uniform. It'll probably be a horrible, uncomfortable, ridiculously strict uniform, but you wear it. Chances are, at least one of your teachers cares more about your uniform than your education.You don't have the SAT or the ACT. You have GCSEs at the end of year 11 (10th grade) and A Levels at the end of year 13 (12th grade).Homecoming isn't a thing. Our football is your soccer, and there'll be a team, but it won't be such a big deal. Schools have pitches, but if someone wants to watch you practice or play they'll be sitting on the grass. High school cheerleading isn't a thing - you can do cheer, but you'll have to do it out of school.You've got year 11 Prom and year 13 Leavers' Ball, but it's not such a big deal as it appears to be in America.Universities don't care that much about extra curriculars. Apparently it's a new initiative to fight classism and elitism that focuses on grades and exam results rather than various opportunities you've had. If you want to go to American university, you can take the SAT and ACT to support your application.Graduation isn't really a big deal. You don't have 'graduation requirements' or a big ceremony, but you do get a hoodie that says some variation of [school name] + [your name] + Class of [year you finished].You don't really have national academic competitions unless you seek them out yourself. You don't have school teams that go to actual important competitions.It's a completely different experience. It's not better, it's not worse, but it's a huge change. If you put me in an American high school, I wouldn't be able to navigate it.Good luck!

There are many parts of the UK that have no state grammar schools, in fact there are only a few counties and cities that do. Despite this, there is no shortage of young people from those places without grammar schools who do go to top universities!If there are no state grammar schools, as is the case in Hampshire, where I live, it just means that abler children will be at comprehensive secondary schools instead. A good, well-run school will be on the lookout for able children with the capacity to do well, and will have strategies in place to help them. Look at the league tables and at Ofsted reports, to help you identify the best schools, but do be aware that Ofsted can get things wrong; it's not by any means infallible.If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has sixth form colleges then your children will have quite as wide a choice of A level subjects as in many grammar schools. For some reason, governments don't seem to appreciate sixth form colleges, but as both a parent and a teacher, one who has spent over twenty years working in such colleges, I think they are great. They offer a much wider range of activities and opportunities than a purely academic environment might, but a great deal of opportunity for good academic achievement, too.I loved my time at grammar school, and I'm sorry my children didn't have that option open to them, because I think it would have suited at least one of them very well. But despite that, I know that they probably did as well academically, especially via sixth form colleges, as they might have anywhere.Choose wisely and well, but don't assume your children can't do well at a comprehensive school. They can, and plenty do.