The Student Room Group

Help!! Where do I go?!

So I’m in year 11, and my current school have 4 people in year 13 offered a place at Oxford. However, I really want to go to this college which has much more independence and you don’t have to stay in school all day. Could you please help me decide where to go as I literally have no clue, here are the pros and cons of both places:

Pros of current school:
-high attaining grades
-much closer
-know all the teachers therefore wouldn’t have the awkward conversation starters

Cons of current school:
-brought out really strict rules
-all my friends are leaving (I know I would make friends here but still I would feel abit lost as not one of my friend is staying)
-I made quite a bad reputation for myself just by arguing with teachers in year 9 however I’m nice to all my current teachers as I have grown up ALOT.
-have to stay in school all day
-not too keen on one of the teachers that I would have for my subject
-I feel quite judged by my teachers as I’m extremely anxious and therefore want to leave for a fresh start with new teachers

Pros of the college:
-all teachers are extremely passionate (open evening)
-much more independence
-new friends and new opportunities
-new environment
-can do the subjects without teachers I don’t like as I’ll consistently have a good relationship with them

Cons of the college:
-would take ages to get there (atleast an hour on two buses)
-not much pressure put on us to do revision etc
-wouldn’t be at home much at all apart from weekends
-friends are going there (I don’t really like them as all they do is put me down)

Please help me decide I need to make the decision now really.
Original post by Beth286
So I’m in year 11, and my current school have 4 people in year 13 offered a place at Oxford. However, I really want to go to this college which has much more independence and you don’t have to stay in school all day. Could you please help me decide where to go as I literally have no clue, here are the pros and cons of both places:

Pros of current school:
-high attaining grades
-much closer
-know all the teachers therefore wouldn’t have the awkward conversation starters

Cons of current school:
-brought out really strict rules
-all my friends are leaving (I know I would make friends here but still I would feel abit lost as not one of my friend is staying)
-I made quite a bad reputation for myself just by arguing with teachers in year 9 however I’m nice to all my current teachers as I have grown up ALOT.
-have to stay in school all day
-not too keen on one of the teachers that I would have for my subject
-I feel quite judged by my teachers as I’m extremely anxious and therefore want to leave for a fresh start with new teachers

Pros of the college:
-all teachers are extremely passionate (open evening)
-much more independence
-new friends and new opportunities
-new environment
-can do the subjects without teachers I don’t like as I’ll consistently have a good relationship with them

Cons of the college:
-would take ages to get there (atleast an hour on two buses)
-not much pressure put on us to do revision etc
-wouldn’t be at home much at all apart from weekends
-friends are going there (I don’t really like them as all they do is put me down)

Please help me decide I need to make the decision now really.


Do both places offer all the subjects you wish to study? And what about any extra circulars you might be interested in?
Reply 2
Sounds like staying in school is better long term and you’ll do better academically there, but college is better short term as it’s less pressure and more independence.

I’d stay at school and stick it out with another two years of strict rules if it means more doors open when you finish! You want the best grades possible so you can choose what to do after sixth form instead of having limited options. Hope that helps x
Reply 3
Original post by cat_mac
Sounds like staying in school is better long term and you’ll do better academically there, but college is better short term as it’s less pressure and more independence.

I’d stay at school and stick it out with another two years of strict rules if it means more doors open when you finish! You want the best grades possible so you can choose what to do after sixth form instead of having limited options. Hope that helps x


My only problem is I want to do English Lit but my brother is in year 13 and says all his friends who do English lit and him all hate it because it’s so much work!! I don’t know what to do, is it worth taking the risk or not?? I don’t know what I want to do after so I would take a gap year but I’m just not sure. Thankyou, yes that really helped!!
Reply 4
Original post by Beth286
My only problem is I want to do English Lit but my brother is in year 13 and says all his friends who do English lit and him all hate it because it’s so much work!! I don’t know what to do, is it worth taking the risk or not?? I don’t know what I want to do after so I would take a gap year but I’m just not sure. Thankyou, yes that really helped!!


What other subjects are you thinking about taking? If english is something you think you might want to do then i’d take the risk, but english for uni/career prospects I wouldn’t say is the best. If you’re passionate then do it, otherwise i’d pick something else, but most things are lots of work!

Gap year is always a great option in my eyes, you don’t have to have it all figured out at this age. Most of us don’t have a clue what we want to do way through our 20’s and 30’s! Choose what you enjoy and work your hardest, the rest will fall into place 😊
Reply 5
Original post by Beth286
So I’m in year 11, and my current school have 4 people in year 13 offered a place at Oxford. However, I really want to go to this college which has much more independence and you don’t have to stay in school all day. Could you please help me decide where to go as I literally have no clue, here are the pros and cons of both places:

Pros of current school:
-high attaining grades
-much closer
-know all the teachers therefore wouldn’t have the awkward conversation starters

Cons of current school:
-brought out really strict rules
-all my friends are leaving (I know I would make friends here but still I would feel abit lost as not one of my friend is staying)
-I made quite a bad reputation for myself just by arguing with teachers in year 9 however I’m nice to all my current teachers as I have grown up ALOT.
-have to stay in school all day
-not too keen on one of the teachers that I would have for my subject
-I feel quite judged by my teachers as I’m extremely anxious and therefore want to leave for a fresh start with new teachers

Pros of the college:
-all teachers are extremely passionate (open evening)
-much more independence
-new friends and new opportunities
-new environment
-can do the subjects without teachers I don’t like as I’ll consistently have a good relationship with them

Cons of the college:
-would take ages to get there (atleast an hour on two buses)
-not much pressure put on us to do revision etc
-wouldn’t be at home much at all apart from weekends
-friends are going there (I don’t really like them as all they do is put me down)

Please help me decide I need to make the decision now really.



From what I've seen here, I really think staying at your current school would be the best option! I stayed on at my school instead of going to a sixth form college and although there's been a lot of issues with rules about the dress code and obviously still all the young students there, I'm so glad I did. A-levels are quite challenging and require a lot of effort from the very start of year 12, but if you go to a new place you'll be thinking about making friends and being with new people whereas in your current school you'll probably just easily make friends with new people on your courses and it won't be such a big worry. You can make loads of new friends at university if you go anyway! As well as that, although the independence seems appealing, you'll probably appreciate having to be in school all day as you will actually get work done rather than going out with friends in free periods. In my experience, school teachers vs college teachers ask more of you which requires you to work harder. Also consider the fact you will be travelling for 2 hours a day at least, that's such a waste of time when you could be at home either chilling or just getting a bit more work done. I have a friend who went to a sixth form far away and she really struggles. She works on a Saturday with me and she's constantly tired and never knows when she has time to do schoolwork. As for the reputation and not getting on with teachers, they should be able to see that you've changed and a-levels are a lot more independent that GCSE's so you may find that you don't have as much contact with them at sixth form. If you're worried about that, then just make it clear to the teachers that you've changed and you're a hard worker and they'll adore you (especially at a-level)! Sorry this is so longwinded but I feel like what I'm saying will really help as I'm personally so glad I didn't go to another sixth form. Also, a word of advice, if you don't like your a-levels, change them as soon as possible! I nearly left in January last year due to hating my a-levels but I was fortunate enough to a teacher who believed I was good enough to catch up on 4 months of missed work and she let me change subjects. The two years will honestly go by so so quickly, so don't get too hung up on where you should go and just think about the practicality of each place as a-levels require a lot of attention :smile: Good luck!
Reply 6
Original post by Tiger Rag
Do both places offer all the subjects you wish to study? And what about any extra circulars you might be interested in?


The college is better for extra curriculars definitely, and yeah they both have lots of subjects however the college has teachers specifically for a levels whereas the teachers at my school have so many years to teach they aren’t very good with keeping up with work so college is better for me I think
Reply 7
Original post by gwrren
From what I've seen here, I really think staying at your current school would be the best option! I stayed on at my school instead of going to a sixth form college and although there's been a lot of issues with rules about the dress code and obviously still all the young students there, I'm so glad I did. A-levels are quite challenging and require a lot of effort from the very start of year 12, but if you go to a new place you'll be thinking about making friends and being with new people whereas in your current school you'll probably just easily make friends with new people on your courses and it won't be such a big worry. You can make loads of new friends at university if you go anyway! As well as that, although the independence seems appealing, you'll probably appreciate having to be in school all day as you will actually get work done rather than going out with friends in free periods. In my experience, school teachers vs college teachers ask more of you which requires you to work harder. Also consider the fact you will be travelling for 2 hours a day at least, that's such a waste of time when you could be at home either chilling or just getting a bit more work done. I have a friend who went to a sixth form far away and she really struggles. She works on a Saturday with me and she's constantly tired and never knows when she has time to do schoolwork. As for the reputation and not getting on with teachers, they should be able to see that you've changed and a-levels are a lot more independent that GCSE's so you may find that you don't have as much contact with them at sixth form. If you're worried about that, then just make it clear to the teachers that you've changed and you're a hard worker and they'll adore you (especially at a-level)! Sorry this is so longwinded but I feel like what I'm saying will really help as I'm personally so glad I didn't go to another sixth form. Also, a word of advice, if you don't like your a-levels, change them as soon as possible! I nearly left in January last year due to hating my a-levels but I was fortunate enough to a teacher who believed I was good enough to catch up on 4 months of missed work and she let me change subjects. The two years will honestly go by so so quickly, so don't get too hung up on where you should go and just think about the practicality of each place as a-levels require a lot of attention :smile: Good luck!


Thankyou so much for taking your time to write that I really appreciate it!! Yeah I guess so I just have no clue on my subjects at all, one of my teachers really wants me to stay but I wanted a fresh start but I guess like you said I’ll have so much more time to spare to do work. The only con about staying is that they have 7 years of students to teach whereas in the college it’s just head 12 and 13 students. I guess at the end of the day the teachers will know me better and how I work if I stay, however I will definitely make a new group of friends as although I get on with mine now, they are fake relationships if you know what I mean and they are all leaving. I’ll just see how the year goes, but to be honest when it comes to the last day I’ll probably not be ready to leave so I’m best to stay.
I picked college over sixth form when I left school.
I had to travel too.

regarding English lit, it's hard at college too. My friend did it and always had her head in a book in down time due to the heavy reading list.
Reply 9
Original post by Beth286
Thankyou so much for taking your time to write that I really appreciate it!! Yeah I guess so I just have no clue on my subjects at all, one of my teachers really wants me to stay but I wanted a fresh start but I guess like you said I’ll have so much more time to spare to do work. The only con about staying is that they have 7 years of students to teach whereas in the college it’s just head 12 and 13 students. I guess at the end of the day the teachers will know me better and how I work if I stay, however I will definitely make a new group of friends as although I get on with mine now, they are fake relationships if you know what I mean and they are all leaving. I’ll just see how the year goes, but to be honest when it comes to the last day I’ll probably not be ready to leave so I’m best to stay.


No worries at all! I'm procrastinating at the moment lol. I completely understand your worries, my school is the same, they have from year 7 to 13. In your school are there any teachers who only teach a-levels? You've still got time to think about your options! Just read into all of them and see what they have to offer. And if you're not sure on what university course you want to do, you could consider taking a bit of a mix to get a bit of everything? Friends will come easily to you I'd imagine as there will be people joining your school who haven't got any friends there and everyone will be willing to talk to everyone! That's very reasonable, I think it's a bit annoying to have one huge change of moving to a different college and then 2 years later having yet another change of going to university. As I said you still have plenty of time, just think about it all practically and maybe even have a look at university courses to get some inspiration for what choices to take!
I would advise you to go to collage because its great to make a fresh start and develop new skills and for academic stuff you can make your own way. I was originally going to to go sixth forum but decided against it as I had it with school surroundings. My collage does not have a academic rep but ive done very well and got 5 offers and an unconditional reputation isn't everything and is by no means a cap on what you can achieve. But at the end of the day your justifying your choice logically and you know best for your self. Good luck!
Reply 11
Original post by gwrren
No worries at all! I'm procrastinating at the moment lol. I completely understand your worries, my school is the same, they have from year 7 to 13. In your school are there any teachers who only teach a-levels? You've still got time to think about your options! Just read into all of them and see what they have to offer. And if you're not sure on what university course you want to do, you could consider taking a bit of a mix to get a bit of everything? Friends will come easily to you I'd imagine as there will be people joining your school who haven't got any friends there and everyone will be willing to talk to everyone! That's very reasonable, I think it's a bit annoying to have one huge change of moving to a different college and then 2 years later having yet another change of going to university. As I said you still have plenty of time, just think about it all practically and maybe even have a look at university courses to get some inspiration for what choices to take!


Yeah I’ll just have to weigh up all my options, thankyou so much!!
Reply 12
Original post by cat_mac
What other subjects are you thinking about taking? If english is something you think you might want to do then i’d take the risk, but english for uni/career prospects I wouldn’t say is the best. If you’re passionate then do it, otherwise i’d pick something else, but most things are lots of work!

Gap year is always a great option in my eyes, you don’t have to have it all figured out at this age. Most of us don’t have a clue what we want to do way through our 20’s and 30’s! Choose what you enjoy and work your hardest, the rest will fall into place 😊


I was going to chose sociology and psychology with it, however I’m starting to be put off English Lit now so I’m slowly changing my mind to English language as it will help me with sociology :smile:
Original post by Beth286
So I’m in year 11, and my current school have 4 people in year 13 offered a place at Oxford. However, I really want to go to this college which has much more independence and you don’t have to stay in school all day. Could you please help me decide where to go as I literally have no clue, here are the pros and cons of both places:

Pros of current school:
-high attaining grades
-much closer
-know all the teachers therefore wouldn’t have the awkward conversation starters

Cons of current school:
-brought out really strict rules
-all my friends are leaving (I know I would make friends here but still I would feel abit lost as not one of my friend is staying)
-I made quite a bad reputation for myself just by arguing with teachers in year 9 however I’m nice to all my current teachers as I have grown up ALOT.
-have to stay in school all day
-not too keen on one of the teachers that I would have for my subject
-I feel quite judged by my teachers as I’m extremely anxious and therefore want to leave for a fresh start with new teachers

Pros of the college:
-all teachers are extremely passionate (open evening)
-much more independence
-new friends and new opportunities
-new environment
-can do the subjects without teachers I don’t like as I’ll consistently have a good relationship with them

Cons of the college:
-would take ages to get there (atleast an hour on two buses)
-not much pressure put on us to do revision etc
-wouldn’t be at home much at all apart from weekends
-friends are going there (I don’t really like them as all they do is put me down)

Please help me decide I need to make the decision now really.


I think you should go to the college. I’m probably kind of biased😂 but I moved from a school to a sixth form college and I feel much more prepared for university in terms of independence and the general dynamics than I think I would have at school. Added with the fact that the teachers are focused Year 12 and 13 only rather than 7 years of students it may mean that they have more time for you, which is the case at my current college and a lot of the stuff that they are focused on is relevant to you. For example my college only really thinks about what is relevant to people going to uni in 2 years so there are so many opportunities and there is a great focus on things like figuring out what you want to do after A levels, many many trips and days/events and a lot of freedom when it comes to having to eg open days which I know at my old school don’t really happen as much. I applied to do
Medicine starting this september and they have created a medicine academy, because of their focus around university they have created strong links with many universities and companies, opportunities like volunteering and internships for people who want to do accounting etc. At colleges there will be a lot more year 12s than at your current so making friends may be a bit easier sinceeveryone is in a similar position to you.

In terms of the travel, I had the same issue it used to take me 15 mins to walk to school and now it takes me an hour to travel but I guess many people do have hour long journeys to school even at secondary so I just put that in perspective and decided I don’t really mind it, 2
years really do go fast

And!! I am a firm believer that you can get whatever grades you want as long as you want it badly enough, my secondary school was pretty shocking and quite a few people overlooked that and still did really well, as long as you are motivated to do the work even though you may want to stay at your school because of the higher attainment it may not be the best thing to think about that too much.
(edited 6 years ago)
look i went to college and i have had the best time ever it was a fresh start, if your sixth form appeals to you and its good then go there if not you have college and like you said college it a lot more independent
It's a tough decision, but ultimately you need to think about your future. Staying in school for Sixth Form might mean less independence than college, but there's time for that at uni (if you decide to go). If there's less pressure to revise etc. would that be a good thing for you/do you have enough self-motivation to achieve what you want?

Regarding teachers, the relationship between student-teachers changes so much in sixth form when they realise you share their love for the subject + smaller classes mean they know you better. If your school has a reputation for being academic, then that'll make uni applications etc. a lot easier, as A: they're experienced and B: the unis might recognise the school name and quality of students.

I don't think having to stay in school all day is a good enough reason to go somewhere else, and you say it would be a 'new start' there but if your friends (who sound toxic and not friends at all) are going there, it's not much of a fresh start.

Also, Open Evening is never a good representation of any college/school, they put their best feet forward and could be entirely false. I realise how biased this sounds, and it's up to you, but to me it sounds like school would be the better option.

Good luck!
Reply 16
Original post by imistudent
It's a tough decision, but ultimately you need to think about your future. Staying in school for Sixth Form might mean less independence than college, but there's time for that at uni (if you decide to go). If there's less pressure to revise etc. would that be a good thing for you/do you have enough self-motivation to achieve what you want?

Regarding teachers, the relationship between student-teachers changes so much in sixth form when they realise you share their love for the subject + smaller classes mean they know you better. If your school has a reputation for being academic, then that'll make uni applications etc. a lot easier, as A: they're experienced and B: the unis might recognise the school name and quality of students.

I don't think having to stay in school all day is a good enough reason to go somewhere else, and you say it would be a 'new start' there but if your friends (who sound toxic and not friends at all) are going there, it's not much of a fresh start.

Also, Open Evening is never a good representation of any college/school, they put their best feet forward and could be entirely false. I realise how biased this sounds, and it's up to you, but to me it sounds like school would be the better option.

Good luck!


Thankyou for your reply!! What subjects did you study?? My sociology teacher really wants me to stay in sixth form because I’m predicted an A/A* therefore probably will be the same grade for psychology a level, and English Lang I’m predicted a 7/8 so I guess my teachers are doing a good job. There’s so many good and bad things about both and tbh if I wanted to go to uni staying at sixth form is the best option as they’ve helped my sibling with his application so much. I guess you’re right with open evening not being a good representation, I’m so indecisive it’s frustrating!! :smile:
Original post by Beth286
Thankyou for your reply!! What subjects did you study?? My sociology teacher really wants me to stay in sixth form because I’m predicted an A/A* therefore probably will be the same grade for psychology a level, and English Lang I’m predicted a 7/8 so I guess my teachers are doing a good job. There’s so many good and bad things about both and tbh if I wanted to go to uni staying at sixth form is the best option as they’ve helped my sibling with his application so much. I guess you’re right with open evening not being a good representation, I’m so indecisive it’s frustrating!! :smile:


I studied English Lit, Religious Studies, Creative Writing, Biology & Chemistry (I dropped Bio & Chem) and it was exhausting. Those are amazing grades, well done - it sounds like your teachers are positive about it too.
Reply 18
Original post by imistudent
I studied English Lit, Religious Studies, Creative Writing, Biology & Chemistry (I dropped Bio & Chem) and it was exhausting. Those are amazing grades, well done - it sounds like your teachers are positive about it too.


I wanted to do biology but I’m not sure I want to do it if it’s so much content :smile:

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