college or sixth form

[geo]

I guess my school/sixth form was just strange then. All the kids that never did any work and hated school just did the sensible thing and left.

but it's compulsory? i guess people could have done apprenticeships and stuff but it's quite a journey away from where my secondary school was located, meaning travel fees could get quite expensive.

i have a 40 min bus journey to college everyday, so i guess some people would rather just stick with whats easy rather than something better for them

[Jurv]

college is so much better, from what i've heard anyway

[Kardan]

but it's compulsory? i guess people could have done apprenticeships and stuff but it's quite a journey away from where my secondary school was located, meaning travel fees could get quite expensive.

i have a 40 min bus journey to college everyday, so i guess some people would rather just stick with whats easy rather than something better for them

It wasn't compulsory back in my day I guess that's where the problems lie then, I agree that it would be a lot easier for people to stick with what they know.

[CrazyLemurs]

I see a lot of sixth form bashing lol, I'm offended
I think sixth form is actually really beneficial if your subject choices are academic; I'd never have done maths economics and computing at a college! Also, if you're not looking for that independence and freedom so much, sixth form provides a nice balance. 8 hours a week I get to sit and do very little lol

I think the argument that teachers treat you poorly is really only true for a bad sixth form. Our teachers recognise that at 16-17 we don't want to be shoehorned into something so they don't have many demands. Behaviour is another one that really depends; a lot of people I know might not have 'grown up' entirely but have realised that they're lucky to be allowed into this sixth form (entry requirements were 9-10As and 2Bs on average) even if they went here for GCSEs, so they treat themselves, others and the environment properly. And personally, as a pretty grumpy student, I've managed to speak to a lot of new people that have either transferred in or repeated this year and a lot of them don't hate me yet

Don't rule out sixth form because your nearest/own school's one sucks. There are alternative sixth forms to go to, just like there are alternative colleges!


Posted from my phone babez xx

[Red]

It's probs diff in england but here people stayed on at school to do a levels (so if they were more academic) and people went to like tech which is probs equivalent to college to do more vocational things. My experience is so diff from most of you guys!! Most schools here are grammar so its through academic selection at age 11 but in my area it was at age 14 (14-18 school) so it meant people who were there actually wanted to be there, and teachers gave you support and treated you with respect. Just research the ones you will be going to Gina!!

[Empired]

If you want to do academic subjects, I suggest you go to sixth form. If you want to do something more btec-y, I suggest you go to a college. As has already been said.

Lots of people in here have been bashing sixth forms but it really depends on where you go. My city has some of the top sixth forms in the country and we have people from the other side of the county fighting to get into one particular sixth form. They won't even give you an interview (yes, ALL the sixth forms around me take interviews damn seriously) if you don't have a B grade average for your mocks and you're still very unlikely to get in if you're only on Bs.
I don't go there but I have quite a few friends from secondary school who did stay on. And they either love it or they drowned. Everyone there takes everything really seriously and just want to come out with the best grades possible. If you don't, the sixth form will chuck you out. At my sixth form it's kinda similar but you only need a D in your subject as AS Level to carry on with it.

What I'm trying to say is lots of people in this thread have negative stories about sixth form, but it purely depends on where you go.

Like Kardan said, go to EVERY open evening you can go to. I think my mum and I went to a total of six in the end lol! And this is gonna sound weird but, whilst you're there, ask to look in rooms that they haven't set up if you can. It's always worth looking in classrooms that haven't been specially prepared. Ask in detail about the course. Even if you don't know what you're talking about, pretend you do. Try to talk to teachers AND students there. Ask students in particular about what they think, how their friends are doing, etc. It's the best way to find out what kind of place it is.

Can't talk about college because I've never been, but that's my insight on sixth form.

Oh wait. Work out what subjects u want to do Gina! You need to have decided by like November. Look at all the subjects u can do and then work from there. If it helps, work out what u definitely DON'T want to do. Work it out soon, too, 'cause otherwise you'll end up panic choosing subjects u don't really want to do/didn't know what the course would be like wherever ur going.

[Kardan]

Also @Yuxin; it might be early to be thinking about University, but now really is the most important time. If you want to get on to a particular University course, make sure you look at the entry requirements. Most of the time you will need at least 3 A-Levels (and depending on the course, those A-Levels must be in particular subjects).

What the majority of people do is take 4 A-Levels, then drop one of them going into Year 13, so you end up coming out with 3 A-Levels and an AS Level. Of course, if you do say do 4 A-Levels across both years, you'll theoretically have more chance of getting into Uni (You have another subject to back you up, in case one goes horribly wrong) - but that of course means more work.

Don't do what some people do and end up choosing just 3 A-Levels, and then dropping down to 2 in Year 13. A lot of people did that at my sixth form, and then realised they had to stay on for Year 14, because they couldn't get into the universities they wanted with so few qualifications.

Of course, if all this talk about A-Levels and Universities puts you off, maybe college is the way to go. People usually take one course at college (although I have known people to go to college and pick their 3/4/5 A-Levels and carry on like usual) usually in something more vocational than what you would do at school. For example, my brother decided to go catering at college. You can still end up getting into University just picking a vocational course, but your options are much more limited. With a catering qualification, you're pretty limited to catering. With Maths, Biology, History and English A-Levels, you still have a lot of options for Uni.

Basically, at the end of the day, it's what you feel is right for you, not what our experiences were like

[The Don]

hiii so i went back to school yday after work experience and the talk of my class was lit bout colleges and whatev because one of the nearby colleges close their apps on 26th of september lmao lit didnt realise we even had to do them so early omf i thought we had til like may! but appaz october/november n stuff is good time idk ANYWAY
what do you thinks better lmao sixth form or college
and whats the difference n stuff please lmao
what did you do
oh also when did you start applying for colleges/sixth forms n all that or whatev

If you're happy at your school stick with sixth form. You'll find that the teachers will have more of a personal interest in ensuring you pass and get into a good university as they know you and have been teaching you/watching you grow up for the past 5 years, whereas college is far more impersonal, and way more independent. Entirely depends what you're looking for. I stayed at sixth form for a bit, dropped out because I hated my subjects and am now at my THIRD College as I kept changing subjects/had poor attendance for one of them so wasn't allowed to progress to A2. I'm with a lot of mature students now though and it's so independent but I enjoy the challenge of it and know it'll be worth while. However, if I could turn back time I would've picked different subjects and stuck out sixth form. As for when I applied for college, every single one that I've been to I applied AFTER Christmas, for this college I applied for it in April-May, which is quite late. But most people apply after Christmas as far as I know.

[Empired]

Also @Yuxin; it might be early to be thinking about University, but now really is the most important time. If you want to get on to a particular University course, make sure you look at the entry requirements. Most of the time you will need at least 3 A-Levels (and depending on the course, those A-Levels must be in particular subjects).

About choosing University courses...

I went to a talk two years ago about what A-Levels to choose if you wanted to take a certain thing at an Oxbridge University. I don't want to go to Cambridge or Oxford but they apply to anywhere.

Basically (from what I can remember) they said:
Anything science-y needs 3 sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) and maths. AND further maths definitely wouldn't hurt.
Anything non science-y but you don't know what to do: History, a language, English of some sort, plus something else omg can't remember.

Basically, if you don't know what to do yet, DON'T close doors for yourself. Don't choose lots of really specialised subjects that might mean you couldn't get on the course you might want to do for Uni. For example you can take Archaeology at some sixth forms but it's not gonna help you much with lots of courses at Uni but History, English, a language, etc. will help you into a lot of courses.

Not saying don't choose any specialised subjects. Just pick one or possibly two if you don't know what to do yet.

[Aiden]

i had a careers meeting in school last week and i found out we had to apply in like the next month too i had no idea.