Can I Be Too Old Fo 6th Form

I am currently in year 12 and i am not doing too well due to family issues which made me come out for quite a while. I have decided i want to stay and resit year 12 but my school isn't offering the courses i need and i have applied for lots of other 6th forms but they have rejected me due to already sitting year 12
What should i do ?

I have also applied for college but they don't do A-Levels at my local college :/

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Reply 1

Emma:-)

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YouIf your current 6th form arent offering the courses you need then you could consider doing other courses.
Carry on applying to other 6th forms though.
Also if you are applying to college, even though they dont do a-levels, you could do another course instead.

Reply 2

manchild007

At my school, a typical sixth-form of sorts (with uniforms and a lower school etc), there was a few (i.e. 2/3) students who were aged between 19-23, who had to leave b/c of illness/military purposes and were allowed to come back to study with any problems at all.

Reply 3

ohwow

Wait, how old are you? I'm planning to repeat Year 12 and 2 of the schools that I rang so far said they don't accept repeats, I wonder why :/

Reply 4

manchild007

Perhaps its b/c your repeating a year (which isn't really a good thing if you don't have a legitimate reason to do so). For friends entering sixth-form being a little older, none have had a problem to be honest...

Reply 5

ohwow

Original post by manchild007

*sigh* . Had to drop 4 subjects when I moved to a new school, so I only got 5 GCSE's but I want to get better results.

Reply 6

manchild007

Ah, that (unfortunately) may be the reason why.

A friend of mine left school at 16 to join the army and following his tour etc, all of the schools he contacted were happy to accept him at 22. He's been lucky enough to get a spot at Eton (through a scholarship), but he had great academics and GCSE grades to support him.

Reply 7

Jellybeany

I left my first college after 2 months and it was too late to get into another college at that point so i restarted at a sixth form the year after and didnt do very well due to unforeseen circumstances so now im on my third restart year.

You shouldnt really have any problems :/

Reply 8

Sir_Malc

I am also wanting to go back to my old sixth form college after 2 years away, but do sixth forms allow someone around the age of 18-19 go back to college to take a levels, or is it only for 16-18 year olds?

Reply 9

manchild007

Original post by Sir_Malc

See my posts above.

On the whole, if the reason you are starting A-levels etc late is not do with resitting them (b/c you failed the first time for example), you shouldn't have a problem.

Reply 10

Sir_Malc

Original post by manchild007

See my posts above.

On the whole, if the reason you are starting A-levels etc late is not do with resitting them (b/c you failed the first time for example), you shouldn't have a problem.

Cheers mate, I never got more than a month in to the AS year due to financial reasons. I just didn't know if Sixth forms were different to just a 'college' in that the sixth form's websites always state 'we educate over 500 16-19 year olds' for example, but never mention anything about slightly older students.

Reply 11

xoxAngel_Kxox

Most 6th forms accept students up to the age of 19. I guess it's at their discretion, and would depend on your circumstances, but ask them anyway. However, you can always do your A Levels at a college instead of a sixth form; they'd be more likely to allow older students to study.

If the sixth form is attached to a school, I think you're less likely to be able to go there as an older student; the staff won't have been trained to teach older students and it might make them feel uncomfortable, particularly if they're an NQT and only a couple of years older than you.. this was what my cousin was told when she wanted to start sixth form two years late. They would have accepted her one year late, but not two.

Reply 12

jelly1000

I've not heard of a comprehensive school that wont accept people who need to resit yr12. Grammar & private schools tend to be more stuffy and not allow that sort of thing though.

Reply 13

Ashlee1993

There are people at the sixth for which I go to which are re sitting year 12 just because they didn't get the results they needed. As long as your only going to be 19 when you finish the courses all together in two years time. I can't see what the problem is.

Reply 14

manchild007

Original post by jelly1000

I've not heard of a comprehensive school that wont accept people who need to resit yr12. Grammar & private schools tend to be more stuffy and not allow that sort of thing though.

I would say its the opposite - private/grammar schools tend to be a lot more accommodating, at least in the experiences of the few people I know who've taken this route.

Reply 15

jelly1000

Original post by manchild007

I would say its the opposite - private/grammar schools tend to be a lot more accommodating, at least in the experiences of the few people I know who've taken this route.

Interesting. I don't know anyone at private or grammar schools who've been allowed to repeat- they've been made to leave and go elsewhere. Expensive private colleges will take you if you have the dosh though.

Reply 16

manchild007

Original post by jelly1000

I mentioned this in my posts above, but I meant for people who are not repeating (like those who have served in the armed forces, or are who are repeating due to extenuating circumstances like illnesses etc. In the case of the former, I have friend who is 20 and shall be starting at Eton this September, who were happy to take him and on a scholarship (i.e. its not about the money).

I don't know any school, other than FE colleges however, which take people repeating b/c they failed their first-year though - so your right on this, if indeed you mean to refer to this in particular.

Reply 17

username612213

Original post by Shreevey

Have you looked into colleges outside your area? They should be doing a-levels. If you can't find a place to study the subjects you want, maybe you should think about doing other subjects or courses.