hmmm quite interesting
Well i moved to a sixth form already part of a secondary skl and i knew no one. Its quite hard to make friends as some of the students are already in their own friend groups, but nonetheless i still made some friends.
HOWEVER, in sixth form everyones really in their own lane, its nothing like secondary school. For example i dont see my friends much, and if i am with them in a free, im mostly studying
its not how secondary skl was where i used to go bc i was excited to meet my friends, its more about the studying
The other people around me who arent exactly 'serious' candidates just chill with their friends
so basically sixth form isnt really about friends, and its only 2 years
Also, the reputation of the sixth form doesnt really help, because its all down to YOU and how you focus and participate in classes/extracurricular work
e.g i went to a sixth form that said it was quite reputable, but when im here now, the teaching isnt that good and there are some mess about students, most of the stuff i do is what i do at home revising
but that is my experience, maybe the ones you are talking about have much better standards
so, if you do option 1, you'll have your friends yes, but all you have to do is make sure to concentrate and work extra hard to not get distracted by them and be a little 'selfish; with your own time
if you do option 2, just remember its not about friends, but after a while you should be able to make friends-as long as the sixth form has good education
if u do option 3, just remember the area doesnt really mean anything. just because its in a rough area, doesnt mean the quality of education is unequal. Also seeing as no one would know each other, its a great chance to make friends because everyones in the same boots!
im leaning more towards 1 or 3
Good Luck!