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Advice and Guidance

Choosing a Sixth Form or College

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As someone who has been responsible for creating and running two Post-16 educational provisions in my career, it was an interesting experience being a parent supporting my own children as they navigated the inevitable open evenings and glossy prospectuses in recent years.

What follows are some thoughts on what I learned when viewing schools and colleges as a parent rather than as a professional.

A Fresh Start

The opportunity to move on from a school to attend a Post-16 provision elsewhere is a chance to start afresh. There could be many reasons that a student actively wants to move away from the school they attended from the age of 11.

Sometimes the student has outgrown the school, which might have a very traditional behaviour policy and dress code. There might have been conflicts with particular students, or staff members that the student wants to move on from. The school may not offer subjects that are of interest. The entry requirements to the school’s sixth form might not be achievable for a particular student.

For these and many other reasons, students should think carefully about possible destinations and do the appropriate research well in advance of the application deadlines which generally fall from January onwards ahead of a September start.

FE Colleges vs Sixth Forms

One of the first considerations to make, is the type of provision. Further Education (FE) Colleges are attended by students of a broad range of ages, but the majority of students will be 16-19 years old. These provisions will have the widest range of courses on offer at levels 1-3 and beyond. There is often a vocational focus, ie courses that directly lead to a qualification that can be used to obtain work for example as an electrician, mechanic, hairdresser etc.

However, FE Colleges are also a popular choice for students wanting to study courses that will allow progression after the age of 18 to university or other higher education providers. These courses include Level 3 BTECs and A Levels.

FE Colleges are usually very large, with thousands of students in attendance, although many of these will be part time, and some will attend during the evening. The proportion of students studying Level 3 courses will be low relative to the overall number of students. The relationship between staff and students is usually quite relaxed, and the experience in general will be one of greater autonomy and freedom than students will be used to in school.

In contrast sixth forms are attached to a school and part of the school using the same staff and facilities. They tend to be focussed on A Levels for the most part. Many will also offer Level 3 BTEC courses and sometimes Level 2 BTEC courses. Students who did not achieve a grade 4 or above in GCSE Maths or English are given the opportunity to retake the qualification, but otherwise most sixth forms do not offer a full complement of GCSE choices as they focus on Level 3 provision over two years.

School sixth forms might have typically around 100-200 students in each year group. Students will be treated in a very similar way to how they were in lower years of the school, although this typically relaxes from Year 12 to Year 13.

One big difference to college is use of non teaching periods, in schools this non contact time is often supervised and students are expected to stay on the school site whereas in college students are generally trusted to come and go as they please and are responsible for managing their own time.

It is possible to attend a standalone sixth form that is not attached to a school. This was relatively common in some areas up until 2013 when due to the expectation that all students should remain in some form of education until the age of 18, schools across the country started to expand or develop their own sixth forms where previously they may not have had one. The standalone sixth forms without an attached school are called Sixth Form Colleges. They tend to offer a broader range of courses and subjects than school sixth forms as they will tend to have a large number of students (around a thousand across the two year groups).

Specialist Providers

A recent development has been the establishment of small, highly specialist colleges, focussed on one particular industry or sector. The most well known example is The Brit School, a school established for performing arts students that has had some success in launching the careers of popular musicians. Similar examples are LIPA in Liverpool and ELAM in East London. Other examples include Aston University 6th Form in Birmingham, the Fashion Retail Academy in Central London, and the National College for Digital Skills (Ada)* in Manchester and London. For students who already have a strong idea of the type of industry they want to work in, these are an intriguing new possibility.

One of the huge advantages of such providers is they have specialist equipment, facilities, industry links and staff expertise that school sixth forms cannot match. They are also smaller and more personal than the larger general FE colleges. Joiners are likely to find themselves amongst like minded people with similar career goals. There may be more of a focus on employability than in more traditional providers. A downside is that most students will have to travel some distance to attend such providers, and it’s not always clear to someone in Year 11 whether they will have sufficient motivation to attend such a provider away from current friendship groups and the comfort of their current routine.

Multiple Applications

With all the choices on offer, it can be difficult to settle on a single choice, particularly as students are working on the basis of GCSE grades that are being predicted at the time of application. Therefore it is important that students don’t apply to a single institution, but apply to many.

When making an application to study at a state secondary school when a child is in Year 6, parents will usually fill in a single application and list schools in order of preference. One school offer will be held at the end of the process. At Post-16, multiple individual applications should be completed and it’s therefore possible that multiple offers can be held.

Some providers, particularly the specialist ones, may select on the basis of an interview, audition or portfolio of work. Offer letters offering places are then sent out around April onwards for most providers. A student does not commit formally or financially to any individual offer at this point, as offers are usually conditional based on exam grades due in August. If offered an unconditional place, a student can still choose to accept the offer but to not attend on the first day.

All providers recruit on the basis that they will make more offers to students than will actually be taken up, knowing that students have multiple offers and could accept an offer but choose to study elsewhere when it comes to the first day of the academic year. This puts the power of choice into the hands of the student, and it makes sense to hold multiple offers taking into account grades that might be achieved as well as preferences for individual providers. So don’t reject an offer unless you are certain that the provider’s offer is not going to be taken up.

An exception to this is when schools band together into collegiates or consortiums. One of my local boroughs in London, Harrow, does this. The advantage to this system is that the schools have a collective timetable which means that it is possible for students to travel between schools for individual subjects. So if School A doesn’t offer French A Level for example, its students can attend School B for French and School A for their other A Levels. It also means that if a particular subject is full at School A, students can attend school B for that one subject.

A downside for students is that they cannot apply to multiple schools within their collegiate as the first school to offer the student a place will stop the application going to any other schools further down the list of preferences. However there is nothing stopping the student applying to a school or college outside the collegiate (for example in a neighbouring borough) and thus holding at least one alternative offer elsewhere.

Open Evenings

If you can, you should attend open evenings at the providers of most interest to you, including your own school. I’ve run many such evenings, which usually feature a talk from senior staff, a talk by students, and an opportunity to ask questions and view student work.

What I noticed from the other side as a parent were the following:

  • Some providers have a very controlling approach that gives you very little feeling for what goes on day to day. The students and staff seem to be reading from a script which they will rarely diverge from.
  • The most useful people to speak to are students, and you should speak to as many as you can, away from staff earshot if possible. You could do this with the students conducting tours, although they may have been hand selected to give favourable opinions. Probe them on the quality of teaching, the relationships between staff and students and the general culture of the place. Bear in mind that they might not know everything, and might not understand what you are asking. As one piece of data in your overall assessment of the provider, they are certainly useful.
  • If you press staff on performance data and they are reluctant to discuss it, that might be a red flag. On the other hand, if they are honest about a dip in results in a particular year and can give some background on it, that’s certainly a positive in my book. You might ask them if they know the ALPS score for their subject. A score of 1 is exceptional, 2 is great, and 3 is above average. Anything between 4 and 5 is not an issue if it is a one off, but over a longer period of time indicates potential underperformance.
  • Some school sixth forms go out of their way to welcome students from other schools, perhaps even putting on a separate open evening for such students. This really impressed me and gave me some confidence that joiners from elsewhere would be accepted as part of the school community.
  • Glossy brochures and polished websites (usually designed by the same company for most of the providers you visit) often reveal very little. The important information you need is entry requirements, deadline dates, selection criteria, and recent results. It’s wonderful to hear about the Oxbridge and medical students, but where did the rest end up going?
  • If you are a potential Oxbridge or medical student, what support is there with interviews, additional tests and so on? How are students selected for the Oxbridge/medical support programmes? Does everyone who wants to apply get the support or are a limited number selected? My friend’s son attended a school where he was not identified as a high performer and not put into the Oxbridge programme despite having an impressive set of exam results. My friend and I got him the support he needed ourselves and got him to apply. He graduated from Cambridge last year with distinction – this wouldn’t have happened if we left it to his school.

If you can’t attend an open evening, it may be that the provider will answer your questions by telephone or email, and it might be possible to talk to students that you know through family or friends. You might find useful information by looking over several years worth of data in the Post 16 performance tables if available.

Your Choice or Theirs?

At the age of 10, our children cannot reasonably be expected to make an informed decision on the quality of education on offer in the local area. They will have a preference, often based on where their friends from primary school want to go, and we should certainly take into account their views. However the final decision and the application process itself are in the hands of us parents. At transition to Post-16 however, the decision is in the hands of the student. We might have very strong views on where they should go and a sound basis for those views. Should we then impose our favoured choice on the person who is going to attend the provision if they choose differently?

Ideally it would be a discussion and all parties would come to the same conclusion and decision, however I am aware of families who directed their child to a particular provision despite it not being their preference. Equally I am aware of many students that I have taught who chose to attend a particular place despite their parents’ wishes.

Sometimes the students themselves are not sure until the last possible moment, highlighting the importance of choice by applying to multiple provisions and holding on to multiple offers. I recall one student in particular saying he left home in the morning on the first day of the academic year and literally did not know if he was going to turn left out of his door and go to one school or right to join another.

Summary

Contrasting my professional experience with my experience as a parent, my views have not changed substantially except in one aspect. I really underestimated the strong feelings that underscore student choice, especially the fear of change. Students who have a strong motivation to study a particular subject in a specialist setting can overcome this fear. The fear is also more easily overcome when friendship groups band together and join a particular provision collectively.

The shame is that students are missing out on an important development experience, that of stepping out of their comfort zone, learning a new way of doing things, and breaking out from existing social circles to meet new people with similar interests.

What happened with my own children? Both stayed put in their school sixth forms. I felt especially strongly about my younger son, who got excellent GCSE grades and could have taken his pick of providers, but chose to stay put, I suspect because most of his friends were staying, but also in part because of his fear of moving on. We decided as a family that he had the final say, despite our reservations, and due to the fact that although there was some risk involved in staying – the school has only one set of published exam results and has yet to send off its first A Level cohort – the risk is relatively low for our son, who generally works hard and has a parent who is a teacher. There was a moderate risk if we compelled him to attend our provider of choice that he would have been unhappy due to a lack of a friendship group or demotivated because he didn’t want to be there.

So the “right” choice might not necessarily be the one that your child makes. Ultimately the risks involved in the decision are the things to pay attention to. Attending a provision with inexperienced staff and a limited track record is a risk, attending an established provision with a good track record is less of a risk, but an unhappy child with few options for progression is the risk with the worst consequences.

The appropriate choice then will depend on your family’s circumstances, the personality of your youngster and the strength of their motivation.

*Disclosure: I worked at Ada from 2016-2018

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Advice and Guidance

What A Levels Should I Study With Computer Science?

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I’ve often been asked this question by students about to enter Post 16 education, and it’s not a simple answer. In effect, you are not just choosing your A Levels, but also the courses that you can study at university. I’ll share my views with you in this article on how best to navigate this tricky process.

Preferred Subjects

You may hear the term ‘preferred’ or ‘facilitating’ with reference to A Level subjects. These refer to subjects that a self identified group of 24 universities with highly competitive admissions criteria once regarded as being superior. Some courses at these universities require you to have studied just one subject from this group. Sometimes it is a pair of subjects.

Students in England usually take 3 A Levels, so we’ll make that assumption here, although of course it is possible to take 4 or even 5. So if two of the A Levels are on the list of facilitating subjects, the 3rd one becomes more of a free choice dependent on your interests and the specifics of the course you are thinking you might study.

Of course if you don’t want to apply to one of the above group of universities, then you may be able to simply choose any subjects you want. Some highly respected universities such as Aberdeen, St Andrews, Bath, Sterling, Surrey and Sussex are not in the above gang of 24. Having said that, one of the facilitating subjects is very commonly chosen alongside Computer Science, so we’ll cover that first.

Mathematics

The most common A Level to go alongside Computer Science is of course Maths. In fact many university courses require it to have been studied, possibly even without Computer Science. This is both for academic and historical reasons.

Maths is seen as a foundational subject that underpins many of the skills needed in Computer Science, including problem solving and logic. If you take a pure Computer Science degree, there will doubtless be at least one mathematics module studied, and if you’ve taken an A Level in Maths, it will help in successfully completing such modules. Maths in fact is the most popular A Level course studied in the UK and has been for a number of years. 88,316 students in England sat Maths A Level examinations in 2022.

However, not all universities will expect it to have been studied. You can study such courses without a Maths A Level, though naturally you may find the maths modules more challenging than your peers. Some people will argue that you cannot go to a top ranked university without having studied maths, and although that might be true for elite universities like Cambridge, Imperial etc, remember that those institutions will not only expect you to have studied maths, but also to have achieved a top grade. If your only motiviation for studying A Level Maths is to get into one of those institutions, you will need to ask yourself the question “How likely am I to get a top grade in this subject if I really don’t find it motivating?”

That’s true of all A Levels not just Maths, by the way. I mentioned earlier that you don’t even need to study Computer Science to do a Computer Science degree. That’s also true. Because Computer Science has not been offered as an A Level by many schools and colleges in the past, Maths was used as an alternative entry requirement as it was felt it would be unfair to expect candidates to have studied Computer Science if so few schools offered it. This has changed over time as CS becomes more widely offered. You may find yourself at a disadvantage if you “just” have a Maths A Level whereas another candidate has Maths and CS, especially if you have no programming experience.

While we prefer applicants who have previously studied Computer Science, you do not need to have done so to be suitable for this course.

University of Bath: Computer Science entry requirements

Further Mathematics

One of the most common third subjects to study alongside CS and Maths is Further Maths. The rationale here seems to be: if maths is good, more maths is better. It complements CS for the same reasons Maths does, especially if it includes discrete maths modules which overlap with the graph theory topic in A Level CS.

All A Levels are considered to be difficult, but within the range of A Levels you could study, Further Maths is at the top end of difficulty rating. You will need to be a confident mathematician, with strong motivation, in order to be successful in this A Level. You will also be required to study A Level Maths alongside it, so your 3 choices will be gone if you are also choosing CS.

One possibility if you are not certain that you want to study it, is to take it as a 4th subject, and then drop it at the end of Year 12 if you are not enjoying it. Depending on your school or college, it may be possible to take an AS Level exam at the end of Year 12 to gain a qualification. Having an AS in Further Maths as an additional subject will certainly enhance your chances of gaining a place on a competitive STEM course at the end of your post 16 education.

Physics

Another very common third subject with CS and Maths is Physics. It complements Maths very well, and widens your options when applying to university, for example engineering courses will generally require it to have been studied. If you find you enjoy tinkering with electronics or mechanical devices, it’s a great subject to study alongside CS.

Once again, it’s regarded as one of the harder A Levels. Of the three sciences it has the lowest number of exam entries (in 2022 36,292 students in England sat an A Level in Physics compared with 54,139 who sat Chemistry and 65,262 who sat Biology).

Economics

For students who intend to pursue a career in finance rather than in a more technical role, Economics is a popular choice as a second or third A Level. A strong argument for studying Economics alongside CS and Maths is that it is a more rounded set of subjects. If you’re not sure that you want to study CS at university, having Economics might strengthen your application to courses that require essay writing. I often find that CS students who are studying Maths and Further Maths struggle with the longer written answers in CS exams and I guess that’s not surprising given that most of their time is spent studying maths. Some students prefer to study a more traditional subject, either A Level Geography or History as many undergraduate economics courses don’t require economics to have been studied at KS5.

Psychology

This one might surprise you. It might not seem an obvious choice at all, but when you think about the products that computer scientists produce, and the emphasis on users rather than the technology itself, you can start to appreciate that it is a useful subject for a software developer. A whole new category of job, that of the User Experience (UX) expert, is based on an understanding of user needs and motivations. Many influential technologies were actually developed by researchers with academic backgrounds in psychology rather than maths or computer science. The field of computational neuroscience is where computer science, maths and psychology neatly intersect.

As with economics, this is another essay based subject and one that will give you a breadth that maths based subjects might not.

Art & Design

If I had a pound for every time a student told me that they wanted to work in game development I’d be able to buy myself a new iPhone at the very least. Once I’ve given them the talk about how hard it is to enter that industry and they haven’t been put off, I tell them that actually, the games industry requires more artists than it does software developers. So an A Level in Art is actually a great addition to CS A Level. You could even end up with all the skills you need to be a solo developer of an independently released game. Art would also be a useful skill for UI/UX specialists.

There are no written exams in Art so the downside will be a huge amount of practical work needs to be produced throughout the two years of the course and that requires discipline and motivation.

Design & Technology

If you like making things, and maybe fancy a career as an engineer or maker, the skills you will pick up in DT could prove very useful. I have known many of my CS students to choose this subject simply because they want a more practical subject to complement more theoretical subjects such as maths. In a similar way to A Level Art, it can make Y13 a little more challenging as there will be coursework due for CS and DT at around the same time. Once again strong discipline and high motivation is needed to successfully navigate this period of the course from around November to March.

Alternatives to A Level

Sometimes, I come across a student who cannot find any subjects that they want to study alongside A Level Computer Science. This may be for any of the following reasons:

  • options are limited by entry requirements
  • options are not particularly motivating
  • subjects are full
  • subjects clash on the timetable

So what can you do in such a situation? One alternative to A Levels is a Level 3 BTEC National qualification which comes in several sizes:

  • BTEC Extended Certificate = 1 A Level
  • BTEC Diploma = 2 A Levels
  • BTEC Extended Diploma = 3 A Levels

So if you want, you can simply study a BTEC Extended Diploma in Computing, and no other A Levels. If you know for certain that you want a job in the tech industry, and the qualification is simply to prepare you for that, then it could work for you. Most universities will also accept it as an entry qualification for Computer Science degrees, although a handful such as Cambridge, do not (strangely, Oxford will accept it).

You could instead study the BTEC Diploma in Computing, and another A Level alongside it such as Maths. This might put you in a better position to apply for courses at top rated universities.

One more alternative is to study other BTECs alongside Computer Science A Level and again this will enable you to progress to a good university. I recently had a student who studied A Level Computer Science with me, alongside a BTEC Diploma in Business who sucessfully obtained a place to study Computer Science at Royal Holloway (one of my favourite universities for CS, with a really strong reputation for Cybersecurity in particular).

Summary

Maths is a very common partner A Level to Computer Science and gives you a very wide choice of universities you can apply to. Further Maths might make you more attractive to the handful of elite universities that mention it in their entry requirements.

You should not study Maths if you hate it and feel you might struggle to obtain a grade B or above. Many universities will let you study Computer Science or related degrees without a Maths A Level, though nearly all will require you to have a grade B/6 in GCSE Maths.

Physics is a nice partner A Level to Maths and CS for students certain that they want to do something highly technical.

For everyone else, the choices depend on what sort of degree you want to study and what your ultimate career intentions might be. Subjects like Economics, Psychology or Geography might give you some breadth that maths based subjects lack. Art or DT is great for more creative students who like practical work and are disciplined.

BTECs are an alternative to A Levels, and it is possible to study BTEC Computing and nothing else. You will probably need to leave your school and attend an FE College to study BTEC Computing.

Choosing A Levels is easy if there are certain subjects you love, and you know exactly what you want to do. Not everyone knows exactly what they want to do at age 15-16, so if you’re not sure what you want to do, having some flexibility through clever choices of A Level is key to successful progression after the age of 18.

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Background

Education in the UK

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As someone who has taught in London for nearly two decades, it often becomes apparent that parents who were educated abroad struggle to understand the system here in the UK. It’s not surprising, as the system is mired in historic and political twists and turns that make it baffling even for people who were educated here. Also the UK is made up of four nations, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The systems in England and Wales are very similar, whilst there are variations in Northern Ireland, and huge differences in Scotland. This article will deal with some of the most important things to know about the system in the most populous part of the UK, England.

Public, Private, State?

One of the first things to clear up is this one: a public school in most countries means one that is free to attend and that is generally run by the government. That’s not the case here in the UK. When you hear the term public school in England, people are referring to private schools, also known as independent schools, to whom you must pay fees for attendance. Yes, that’s right: the meaning here is the opposite of the meaning elsewhere. Strictly speaking, public schools in England refer to a small subset of the oldest and most “prestigious” private schools such as Harrow, Eton and so on. These are for students over the age of 11, whereas younger children can attend another type of private school known as a preparatory or prep school.

The term public school is quite a loaded, political, phrase. A high proportion of goverment ministers, judges, senior civil servants and journalists have attended such schools. Given that only 7% of the population are educated in the independent sector, hearing figures such as 65% of senior judges attended such schools has given rise to concern that social mobility is compromised by systemic issues within education and employment. Being called a “public school boy” is generally not meant as a compliment.

State schools then, are those that are free to attend, being funded by the government, and that generally do not select by ability or other criteria.

Grammar Schools

Another subject that can provoke an emotive response is that of grammar schools. Confusingly grammar schools could be state or private, but generally the term is taken to mean a state funded school that selects its students by ability. This means that students reaching the end of the primary phase of education (10-11 years old) will take an academic test commonly called the 11+. The results of the 11+ will determine if they can attend a selective school. This could be a private school or a state grammar school.

Initially grammar schools were private, with a proportion of places awarded by scholarship and funded by the state. This then expanded in the 1940s to schools which were entirely state funded and that students would attend based on ability. Students that could pass with a high enough mark (e.g. the top 20% of the student population) would then be able to attend their local grammar school. Other students would attend a school known as a secondary modern which did not select by ability and was available to all.

Grammar schools were intended to allow progression to university, whereas secondary moderns were intended to allow pupils to progress to local colleges or the workplace. Even the qualifications that could be taken by students in secondary modern schools were restricted. This stark early division of children into academic and non-academic was popular with parents whose children benefitted from the system, but not with others.

The grammar school system was gradually dismantled from the mid 1960s onwards. So called comprehensive schools were open to all students without academic selection and with a wide range of subjects that could be studied.

From a peak of around 1300 grammar schools in the 1960s, there are now just 163 state grammar schools in England, and over 3000 non-selective state secondary schools. The ones that remain are very popular with parents whose children can get into them, however research by UCL’s Institute of Education showed that there is no benefit for the most able students attending such schools, who are equally happy and make no less progress in a non-selective school. The impact on non-selective schools in an area with grammar schools can be negative, with performance tables for such areas dominated by the grammar schools.

Progression

In England and Wales, school years are determined by the age of the child based on an academic year starting on the 1st of September. Pupils progress through the following stages during their education:

  • Nursery ( under 4)
  • Infant (4-7): Reception, Year 1, Year 2
  • Primary (7-11): Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6
  • Secondary (11-16): Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10, Year 11
  • Post 16 (16-18): Year 12, Year 13

Pupils start their formal education after the age of 4. In England this year is called reception. Progression from school year to school year is automatic up to the age of 16, so for example when a reception student completes the reception year (and so will have turned 5 before September the 1st) they will progress to Year 1. There is no exam to sit that will determine whether the student will progress to the next year unlike in some countries.

The different age ranges in primary and secondary schools are named as follows:

  • Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) – Reception
  • Key Stage 1 (KS1) – Year 1 to 2
  • Key Stage 2 (KS2) – Year 3 to 6
  • Key Stage 3 (KS3) – Year 7 to 9
  • Key Stage 4 (KS4) – Year 10 to 11
  • Key Stage 5 (KS5) – Year 12 to 13

Some schools will arrange their curriculum so that KS3 is covered by the end of Year 8. In such schools, KS4 will then comprise Year 9 to Year 11.

Qualifications

At the end of KS3, students are expected to make a choice about a small set of subjects that they would like to continue on with in KS4. English, maths and science are compulsory and some schools will force students to choose a language and a humanities subject (either geography or history). This leaves 3 to 4 subjects that the student can choose from, e.g. art, media studies, music, computer science etc.

Successful completion of KS4 should result in the award of a qualification for each subject studied. The most common of these qualifications is called a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE). This is awarded on the basis of final examinations at the end of KS4, which are assessed outside of the school to ensure fairness. Some subjects such as music and art are also assessed on coursework conducted in school.

Another common qualification is called BTEC, which also features an external examination, but the majority of the qualification is assessed through coursework, and so this qualification suits practical subjects.

A strange quirk of the system in England and Wales is that competing awarding bodies (often called exam boards) are able to issue qualifications in the same subject. For my own subject for example, the Oxford Cambridge and RSA (OCR) awarding body is the most popular. However, a school could choose to use the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) or Pearson Edexcel (Edexcel) and there are a number of others. International schools abroad that choose to teach UK qualifications often use the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) awarding body, as do many independent schools in England. BTEC qualifications can only be awarded by Edexcel.

Post 16

In England, Year 11 students are given the results of their GCSE and BTEC qualifications on the last Thursday of August. These determine what the student might do next. GCSEs and BTECs studied during KS4 are known as Level 2 qualifications. GCSEs are graded 1 to 9, with 9 being the highest grade achievable. Any grade above 4 in GCSE results in the gaining of a single Level 2 pass. Below 4 would be a single Level 1 pass. BTECs are graded Pass, Merit, Distinction and Distinction star. These roughly translate as:

  • Pass = GCSE grade 4,
  • Merit = GCSE grade 6
  • Distinction = GCSE grade 7
  • Distinction* = grade 8/9

Progression now is determined by the results of those exams. If students choose to stay on in school, they can study a qualification called an Advanced Level (A Level) or a Level 3 BTEC. Schools may have a general entrance requirement (for example “Must achieve at least 6 GCSEs at grade 5 and above”) as well as individual subject requirements (“Must have studied GCSE Computer Science and achieved at least a grade 6”).

So state schools are now in effect also selecting based on ability, using recent examinations to determine what courses a student should be allowed to study. Students themselves can also choose to study elsewhere if they want, and if they have achieved an impressive set of results might be in strong demand.

If there is no suitable course available, an alternative option is to attend a Further Education College (FE college or just college), which allows the student to retake Level 2 qualifications or choose from a much wider range of courses which might lead directly to employment. A third option is to apply for an apprenticeship, which is comprised of work and some classroom based training. To do this, you need to apply to an employer and be successful in being taken on as an apprentice. They will then be responsible for ensuring that you receive suitable training on the job and in the classroom.

University Admission

There was a time in England (prior to the 1990s) when it was perfectly possible to leave schools with GCSEs or A Levels and gain employment in a variety of professions without attending a university. Since then, it has become increasingly common for professions to require a university qualification. Teaching and nursing are just two examples. The A Level has therefore become a qualification for selecting students’ university destination.

UK universities are amongst the best in the world so competition for places is fierce. A Levels are awarded grades from A* to E and the most competitive courses and professions would expect a set of 3 A Levels ranging from A*A*A* to maybe A*AA.

Applications to UK universities are made through a central system called UCAS, which students are guided through by their teachers during the latter part of Year 12 and the beginning of Year 13.

Types of State School

This could merit an entire article on its own, as the system in England now has been further complicated by reforms started in the 1990s and expanded and accelerated since 2010. Most schools prior to that time were controlled by local authorities, for example the London Boroughs or English counties such as Hertfordshire, Berkshire and so on. Some schools were run by faith groups. To that mix we can now add Academies, Multi Academy Trusts, City Technology Colleges, and Free Schools. Broadly these are characterised as follows:

  • Community Schools: no selection, overseen by a local authority
  • Faith schools: selection by religion and other admissions criteria
  • Academies: no selection*, but has freedom over the curriculum
  • Multi Academy Trust: no selection*, can run a group of schools
  • Free School: no selection*, established by parents or other groups
  • City Technology Colleges: no selection, specialised e.g. engineering

Community and faith schools have to follow the National Curriculum, a standardised curriculum introduced in the 1990s. Faith schools can vary their teaching of Religious Education according to their preferences. Academies don’t have to teach the National Curriculum but most do choose to do so. Academies can be established in partnership with businesses, or with a particular faith. Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) can be a pair of schools or a chain of up to 76 in the case of one MAT. They often take over schools previously deemed to be providing a poor standard of education. There is no strong evidence that this type of school structure has improved the provision of education in England.

Free schools are free in the sense that they have the same freedoms as other academies, and are free to attend as are all state schools. They can be formed by parents, teachers or other local groups. They have also been controversial, many having been abandoned due to low pupil numbers, and some were highly politicised with high profile parent founders. However there have been some successes, and as community schools cannot be opened any more, all newly opened schools have to be free schools or academies.

I hope that was a useful overview of a very broad topic.

* Whilst some schools are not selective in the strictest sense, they can select by other means, for example musical ability, or by placing the student within ability bands