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Good vs Bad Schools (Sixth Forms) for Uni Prospects

Hi, I'm a Year 11 student from Yorkshire. I'm in a bad school at the moment (I could go on about the details, e.g. bad teaching, etc. but everything isn't great). My parents are considering moving to somewhere in Southern England, and, as you may know, there is quite a disparity between education in the North and the South, so I would be getting a much better education if we were to move. The move would be after I finish my GCSEs, so I would be studying A-levels after we move.

My question is - if I get very good grades in my A-levels if we stay (say, A*A*A for example), would I have a better chance of getting into a university such as Cambridge than if I get similar grades (or slightly higher - A*A*A*) in an excellent school?

I understand it may sound a bit silly, but I think my school/area is deprived, and I have read that students from deprived areas should be taken into special consideration. I think I would have to put quite a bit more effort in, but it may be worth it if this is true.

Please tell me what you think. I'd appreciate any advice you have.

Reply 1

0123456543210

Original post by Kaiylar

In a bad school you would be lucky to pass your a-levels though, unless you are gifted and would be willing to self-teach all the syllabus yourself. There is a reason why lower offers are given out to candidates from crap schools, because it is much more difficult to get decent grades there in comparison to grammar, private and generally good schools.

Reply 2

Kaiylar

Original post by 0123456543210

I'm not sure what is classed as a deprived school. If it turns out that I'm wrong about my school being deprived, then sorry, but I'd like if you could help me figure that out, please. My school isn't dreadful. Here's some statistics (results):

GCSE (Just thought I'd put it in anyway) -

A-level -

Reply 3

HRR

You'd be better off going to a better college/sixth form and aiming for high grades (within reason) then taking a chance on a bad school and hoping to scrape by as 0123456543210 said.

I may be wrong about this, but let's say you do get a lower offer as you're in a comparatively worse off school. When you reach uni, you'll probably be doing the same work for your course as someone who went to a better college/sixth form and had to meet a higher offer. Wouldn't it be harder to adjust going from low grades to uni than high grades to uni since you wouldn't have as solid a foundation? In my humble opinion, you should try and choose a college/sixth form that'll allow you to reach your potential. Whether or not you are capable of doing the course should take precedence over which offer you need to meet to get in.

Reply 4

0123456543210

Original post by Kaiylar

A-level -

Not bad for GCSEs, my previous school had approx 28% of people passing their GCSEs lol. However for A-levels it is pretty woeful tbh, I genuinely think that going to a better school should improve your chances, not only because of better teaching, but also as the result of being around more focused pupils which should definitely help. It is your choice, however, and it really comes down to what YOU want and where you can see yourself studying and succeeding.

Reply 5

Pentaquark

Good school. Whilst Cambridge will look favourably on your application due to coming from a bad school, you won't get much preparation for interviews or admissions tests. A lot of it will be down to you and a lot of hard work will be needed.

Obviously it also depends on how gifted you are, of course if you are clever enough you will do well no matter what. But sometimes being in an environment where you are challenged to think rather than to just pass an exam a lot of the time will help immensely. Some people flourish in that sort of environment and life is so much easier if you have good teaching and you are in an environment whereby you will concentrate fully in.

To get into oxbridge you need to be able to think creatively on your feet and whilst you can't really teach that sometimes being in a place whereby you are challenged all the time, will get you into that mindset and help maximise your potential.

Recently my friend attended a Cambridge masterclass the other day and they spoke about how a lot of state school students are rather quiet in interviews also due to lack of prep. So you would have to do a lot on your own if you come from a school where they basically leave you to it.

Whilst they will be more lenient to people from bad schools, they do want people who will survive on the course and not drop out. So don't think that going to a bad school will make up for relatively low marks and a poor interview.
Good marks on the other hand will show a lot of potential since if you can achieve that in a bad school compared to people who get groomed to get into oxbridge, it will certainly give you an advantage.

If you feel that your potential will be wasted at a bad school then you are probably right.
I go to a school with similar scores for A level and whilst it actually isn't too bad, I often wonder whether I'd do better in a grammar school and understand things more.
However if you are willing to work harder and go that extra mile then going to a bad school will help you a lot in terms of getting an offer.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 6

Kaiylar

Thanks for all your helpful advice, everyone. Despite what some of you have said, I'm leaning towards staying (obviously it's ultimately up to my parents, but education is one of the reasons they have considered moving) because, as Pentaquark said, good marks from a student in a bad school would give me an advantage. My brother went to Cambridge and he went to the sixth form I'd be going to if I stay here (he did have to do a lot of self-teaching + he's smarter than me). I can see that it would be difficult but I think it would be worth it, and I am getting pretty good grades in my GCSEs at the moment.

Thanks for every bit of advice though, it has all helped massively.