Lae stratford 2021 applicants

Is LAE better than Woodford County High school. Woodford County is a grammar school so does that make it better than LAE or has LAE established a reputation that is just as good or even better. I would really appreciate if someone or preferably student's at the these schools could answer. It is a known fact that private schools and grammar schools sound better than state schools but LAE performs better than Woodford As you can see I am conflicted and would really appreciate an honest response.

loll, my two options I was considring were LAE and WCHS so i think i can give my take on it. on paper, WCHS seems better because it's big and is a 'grammar school' which seems better than LAE. i thought i was going to go to wchs and i hadnt even thought lae was a good option until i attended their open day. The buiding is smaller and its not attached to a seconadry school but I just fell in love with the environment- the students and teachers seemed so friendly and I was in a bit of a predicament bc i just couldn't choose. there are a few differences- lae allows you to do four a levels and an epq but wchs only allows either four a levels of three and an epq. the more i looked into lae i saw they had better grades an great oxbridge entry stats and bc of their partner schools it's kind of a free private school. like they get funding from the private schools, and opportunities from them. Eventually i decided to pick LAE and i haven't regretted it for one minute but that's not to say WCHS is not good. Just that LAE seemed better suited for me. If you have any questions or want any more info feel free to private message me!

I’ve also received an offer from a grammar school sixth form and asked my school careers adviser. She said the advantage of LAE is that they probably get their student in top uni by heavily using the widening participation route, even though half the students don’t come under this. If I go to a grammar sixth form, i won’t have this advantage when applying to universities. Would ex/current students agree with this?

Is LAE better than Woodford County High school. Woodford County is a grammar school so does that make it better than LAE or has LAE established a reputation that is just as good or even better. I would really appreciate if someone or preferably student's at the these schools could answer. It is a known fact that private schools and grammar schools sound better than state schools but LAE performs better than Woodford As you can see I am conflicted and would really appreciate an honest response.

what is the widening participation route?

Universities expect lower grades from disadvantaged students eg those who went to a non selective state school, in a deprived area. Although you might have attended a grammar school for GCSE, I’m assuming if you go to LAE they can write on your reference that they are in a deprived areas and this could help you get into Oxbridge or offers which expect lower grades from Russell group universities. So instead of A*AA, a university might ask you for AAB

Heyy, I currently go WCHS and I'm in year 11. I have applied to both LAE and Woodford. Woodford is a good skl and most of the teachers are really good an knowledgeable but its a hit and miss really. Not all of the teachers are amazing. The approach that Woodford have at sixth form is very independent from what I've heard, its more like you do a lot of background studying before and after the lesson and the teacher just recaps you on this. I'd say its much less pressure because you get to go out during free periods and stuff and overall its a much more chilled environment than LAE. Both schools are obviously good, it just depends if you want a pressurizing school that will push you more or a more chilled school where you could potentially slack. Me personally, I want to move out of Woodford bc i want a change and I feel like I'd be better suited to a skl that pushes me more. Hope this helped x

to be fair, LAE is not actually very high pressure. If you are a person who enjoys working hard it is not too bad. Personally i enjoy it, there is a bit of stress but I think that's expected with A levels and there are a lot of things put in place to help you deal with stress as LAE place high importace on pastoral care- idk if it will help but i think LAE pushes you but doesn't really pressurize

Do you feel like your life is on hold while doing A Levels in general? I know they take up a lot of time... (without lockdown restrictions) would you still have time to have fun, go out with friends, etc?

This is an interesting question lol. I think you won't realise just how much time they take up until you're doing them. Obviously I can't go out right now bc lockdown but there still is time to go out with friends, maybe not every week but it depends on what you value more. For me, I think i'd find enough time to go out but I would rather revise most weeks. But there is time to do things you enjoy, extra curriculars, homework, studying and going out, it's more about figuring out how to balance and make time for it all.
to be fair, I feel like sixth form kind of marks my life 'starting' bc there's a lot more independence but thta's just me - hope that helped!!

I’ve also received an offer from a grammar school sixth form and asked my school careers adviser. She said the advantage of LAE is that they probably get their student in top uni by heavily using the widening participation route, even though half the students don’t come under this. If I go to a grammar sixth form, i won’t have this advantage when applying to universities. Would ex/current students agree with this?

to be fair, LAE is not actually very high pressure. If you are a person who enjoys working hard it is not too bad. Personally i enjoy it, there is a bit of stress but I think that's expected with A levels and there are a lot of things put in place to help you deal with stress as LAE place high importace on pastoral care- idk if it will help but i think LAE pushes you but doesn't really pressurize

Oh okk, obviously I don't go LAE so I was really just stating my impression of the school! How good are the teachers in LAE, would you say that they are supportive and helpful or more pushy and judgemental if you don't get top grades. I want to do Biology Chemistry Psychology and Philosophy so if you could tell me about those departments in general it would be really helpful! x

Oh noo dw! Teachers are actually really good at LAE. I take Biology, Chem, maths and firther maths so the biology and chemistry teachers are really nice. There's an in resident doctor for each STEM subject so I have two teachers for every subject and one of the two in each class has a Phd which is really cool. The teachers are quite passionae about their subjects. They're not pushy at all, tbf if you aren't getting top grades they have drop ins to help and they're very supportive and nice. As long as you're willing to put in the work, they're helpful and really nice, regardless of if you're getting top grades or not. hope that helped x If you have any more questions feel free to ask or pm me

Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, English Literature & EPQ

You didn’t mention the maths and further maths teacher. Are they just as nice? Good at teaching?

Ngl this was a few years back (i.e. around 2017/18) but if it’s anything like it was back then, then I can tell you that’s some of the Maths teachers aren’t so great. Especially for the Statistics side of things...

Ahh, thank you for that, is there anyone else, who is currently there and would like to be so honest and help me out?

yo do u want to get into the stratford one too?