College or Sixth Form?

jackyann

In the above reply you say "6th Form college" so I wonder if you realise that most Further Education Colleges offer A levels (not necessarily a huge range) as well as Diplomas, NVQs and other courses.

Of course, I speak from experience around southern England / Midlands, so it may be organised differently where you live.

Apologies if you have already checked that, it was the wording of your post that made me wonder.

olgadapolga

Why not let your DD do what she wants? Life is too short not to take opportunities. She can always change later on if it doesn't suit/she changes her mind.

My mother pushed me into doing subjects that I really did not want to do and I hated them and did really badly, barely scraping through my exams. Started A-levels, hated it and left after a few months. I was then pushed into a college course, which I did enjoy and I loved college but again it turned out to be completely useless in the long run. I ended up in a series of dead-end, boring jobs with no prospects.

I then discovered the career I wanted to follow (which I had briefly considered whilst at school but had been put off it by my mother). At the age of 35, with three small children at home, I returned to university (without any A-Levels) and started my degree which took me five long years but culminated in a first class honours degree and my mother telling me that I had been right all along. I now have a career that I love, at the age of 40 instead of the age of 21, had I been allowed to make my own choices. Nineteen years wasted.

I am not saying that, as a mother, you would do this, I'm just saying, let your daughter make her own choices. My DD has just started college at the age of 14 (having been home educated up until that point) - she's doing maths, english and performing arts this year and next year she will be doing science and probably the next level of performing arts. These were her choices, I did not influence her at all. Her ultimate ambition is to be an actress and she has my full support in this.

The college environment is also completely different to school. At school you are treated as an errant child who must be controlled whereas it is much more relaxed at college, you are treated as an adult. Furthermore, the students at college WANT to be at college whereas school is pretty well forced upon most children. Children do better when they want to do something, my daughter has surprised even herself at how well she is doing. I'm so proud of her!

tyllwyd

jackyann wrote: »

In the above reply you say "6th Form college" so I wonder if you realise that most Further Education Colleges offer A levels (not necessarily a huge range) as well as Diplomas, NVQs and other courses.

Of course, I speak from experience around southern England / Midlands, so it may be organised differently where you live.

Apologies if you have already checked that, it was the wording of your post that made me wonder.

Honestly, I have looked - if anyone else can find a non-school option offering A levels in the Wiltshire area, please tell me! Looking further away, I can see that it would be an option in Bristol, but travelling would be an issue.

lostinrates

Just had a quick google because though its not an issue that impacts me I am a wilts resident so I'm horrified.

Second link found one. Whether its a convenient part of wilts ( Swindon) is another issue.

Utc salisbury? Not sure if this is different to salisbury college where it looks like a levels are also offered , ( just saw reference to that in an of stead thing though, not on the wiltshire college website which i cannot see reference to this)


Any way....its worth having another look. . They certainly aren't screaming about it. I also note the college in frome does a levels which would be commutable from west wilts. I don't know how it works for funding etc in this sort of situation crossing county borders, but frome would be nearer to commute from many west wilt locations than salisbury or Swindon and train lines probably work quite well for it.

ciderwithrosie_2

KxMx wrote: »

I find generally speaking that in Sixth Form you get treated like a kid, as it is really an extension of school.

A college however is a much more adult environment and you get treated as such.

This was the problem I had with going to sixth form at the same school - the change from GCSEs to A Levels was that you had to do a lot more self led study and had to be more disciplined than you were just a few months ago, take on responsibilities of being a prefect and yet they still treated you the same as the rest of the school. Most of my friends left in the first few months - to get jobs (a lot easier in those days) and I stuck it out for one year, then went to art college (that was an eye opener!).


My youngest son has just gone to Uni after doing a BTEC extended diploma in graphic design and a year's foundation art course at the local college. All depends on what degree she wants to do and what the entry requirements are.

trailingspouse

With 5 kids I think we've seen every possible combination of post-16 options -

#1 child - straight A's at A level, first-class honours, Masters.
#2 child - not bad A level results, totally unsuitable degree course, floundered about for years but ended up as the first of the kids to be in a job that came with a company car!
#3 child - dropped out, left home, worked in bars, did A levels (at college, not school), got pregnant, started a degree course as a mature student, and has just earned a distinction in her Masters.
#4 child - reasonable A levels, 2:1 degree, worked for a while in her chosen field, emigrated, and is now doing something completely unrelated.
#5 child - reasonable A levels, uni cancelled the course just weeks before he was due to start, got a job instead and has never looked back. Working as a manager for a major high street retailer, the first of the kids to own their own house.

I think the answer is pretty much to go with what you're good at, and then work hard to become better at it. Doors don't just open - you have to make an effort to turn the handle sometimes.

Jagraf

trailingspouse wrote: »

With 5 kids I think we've seen every possible combination of post-16 options -

#1 child - straight A's at A level, first-class honours, Masters.
#2 child - not bad A level results, totally unsuitable degree course, floundered about for years but ended up as the first of the kids to be in a job that came with a company car!
#3 child - dropped out, left home, worked in bars, did A levels (at college, not school), got pregnant, started a degree course as a mature student, and has just earned a distinction in her Masters.
#4 child - reasonable A levels, 2:1 degree, worked for a while in her chosen field, emigrated, and is now doing something completely unrelated.
#5 child - reasonable A levels, uni cancelled the course just weeks before he was due to start, got a job instead and has never looked back. Working as a manager for a major high street retailer, the first of the kids to own their own house.

I think the answer is pretty much to go with what you're good at, and then work hard to become better at it. Doors don't just open - you have to make an effort to turn the handle sometimes.

I love this post, sums everyone's worries up nicely. Every stage seems so important til you look back. I remember decades ago worrying about potty training. All works out in the end, sounds like you have a fab family x

Pinklepurr

As a mum of a 15 yr old I too am trawling the local 6th form and colleges. He is likely to go down the vocational route, hopefully doing a L3 BTEC extended diploma, which if passed, will give him enough UCAS points to be considered for entry for his chosen career. It is continual assessment by coursework with no final exams, which will suit him far better. He does not want to do A levels nor go to university. I would prefer that he studies something which fires his enthusiasm and he excels at, rather than do A levels, struggles and is miserable!! I also did a BTEC many years ago and it prepared me very well for working life. Not everyone needs to go down the A level and university route.

happy35

I think it depends what suits your daughter, she will do much better at something that interests her at a college than doing her second choice

My son is an apprenctice engineer, he will obtain a degree at the end of his apprenticeship but will take a year or two longer than if he had done A levels and then uni. However he will have practical as well as economic knowledge, this appears to be held in much higher esteem than just a degree whne you look at job adverts and no student debt as the company pays all fees

If your daughter does want to act and would like to obtain a degree in performing arts or similar it may be that the college course is more beneficial than A levels as will offer more relevant training.

Although a lot of my sons friends had started A levels not a lot actually survived the 2 years and sat the exams, most went on to college and did courses etc and some have just started University. In my sons case leaving school was definitely the best option although I was made to feel like a rubbish parent who was standing by and letting him take a poor option when he could be doing A levels - he achieved A grades at GCSE but was adamant he wanted an apprenticeship. All has gone well for him so far, he loves his job and is doing really well at college

bloolagoon

My advice would be to keep doors open. If their diploma has UCAS points and is entry to university would it be a bad thing if the end result was university? That way they get their further education and higher education is still an option at that time. If it closes the uni door as it doesn't have UCAS points then see if anything fits that has this option. Whichever route keeps open the door for the future and makes them happy would get my vote.