Should I care about A-Level pass rates when considering a school?

I am currently undecided on whether I would like to stay at my current school due to its pretty low pass rate for A-Levels (it also has around 900 pupils). I am considering two other schools one with 1820 pupils and a pass rate of 74% and another school of 740 pupils with 61.1%. The 1820 pupil school is basically in the middle of the city so it has a bigger pool of students to pull from due to its location. I know that pass rates aren't everything because it's about the pupil's effort as well but the pass rate is the only thing I can go off since I haven't actually attended the school. I personally would like to attend to the smaller school due to its smaller pupil count but the pass rate difference is quite significant.

Which one?

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

loperdoper

Not really. A pass at A-level means you got at least an E, so they don't really mean anything.
Go with the sixth form that
a) does your preferred courses
b) you liked when visiting.

Reply 2

Trihawk7

Original post by loperdoper

Not really. A pass at A-level means you got at least an E, so they don't really mean anything.
Go with the sixth form that
a) does your preferred courses
b) you liked when visiting.

This league table goes by A*-C

Reply 3

loperdoper

Original post by Trihawk7

This league table goes by A*-C

Oh, then in that case both are pretty good (mine advertises itself with 99% E+ pass rate, and notably neglects to mention the % C+ pass rate). As you said in your first post, it's mostly down to how you as a pupil work. A bad teacher =/= bad grade at A-level (whereas GCSE it may have been the case).

Thus, my point remains. Don't base it off A-level pass rates. The course availablity and atmosphere of the school are the most important imo

Reply 4

Trihawk7

Original post by loperdoper

Yeah I get you :smile:

Which of the schools would you choose including my current school?

Reply 5

username1560589

The school pupil count doesn't matter to you.
The sixth form pupil count might matter a bit, but not too much.

The overall pass rate doesn't really tell you anything.
Do you know the pass rate for your individual subjects?

As has been said, results are down to individual students and not so much the teacher at A-level. However you do want a good teacher because that might increase the enjoyment in the subject and will help to get better grades.

Go to an open day/evening and talk to the teachers for the subjects that you want to do in each of the schools.

If possible, go to a welcome day(I think they're called) because that gives you a chance to go to a lesson of each subject and have a longer chance to talk to the teachers and get a feel for the atmosphere of the school.
It happened that 3/4 of the teachers that I had on the welcome day I had for two years so it gives you a chance to meet them before.

See what subject related facilities are available. This might not be relevant to you but my college has great science labs compared to what my other options were.

Also, look at the library for each and see whether you could study there.

Reply 6

loperdoper

Original post by Trihawk7

Yeah I get you :smile:

Which of the schools would you choose including my current school?

Eh, I'd probably stay at your current one, but then I'm lazy and wouldn't want to switch schools. Besides, you shouldn't make a decision based on what a stranger on the internet says.