College vs Sixth Form

I’m finishing GCSES next week and recently I applied for the school’s sixth form so I had options. These are the pros and cons of them both:

College
+ Fresh start
+ Few friends from secondary school are going
+More freedom + independent (in some ways this is bad for me)
- No structure to the day which I don’t like
- Can’t make mind up over course

Sixth Form
+ Connected to the school so it is familiar
+ Know the teachers
+- know majority of people however I may not like them/don’t talk to them (both pro and con)
- Less freedom

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Hi! I'm starting my second year in college now in September. For me college was an obvious choice because the sixth form/school really wasn't all that good. From my experience, you do make friends however not loads of new friends as some areas might not have a sixth form and people move to college already in their friend groups. In regards to the structure of the day, I preferred having a not set structure as it'll be more what it's like at university and it makes you manage your time better, without being too serious at all (you get used to it after the first week!) I'd say if you can then look at the college and sixth form websites, and maybe ask people who have been there and studied there... either way as long as you get the qualifications that you need then that's all that matters!

Thank you for responding! I feel like whenever I’m given the chance to go home and do “independent study” I find it hard to get myself motivated to do work and instead I would probably go on devices/procrastinate whereas in sixth form I’ve been told it’s more like school, you are there every day and teachers offer more support than in college and there is proper structure to the day as you are given a timetable and not allowed to leave which I prefer. I am going to the college “welcome day” in 2 weeks, I will give it a go but if I don’t like it then I will go to sixth form.

Yep that sounds like me haha! When you go to the welcome day, if you can then ask if you're able to stay in college to revise and study. My college has really good areas to study and whilst I always procrastinate they've definitely helped me. Good luck either way and let me know if you have anymore questions!

Does bullying happen much in college/sixth form?

It really just depends on what type of person you are and where you are. In my school bullying was quite prominent, some was very little however some was much worse for some people. A few of my friends have said it's nicer in sixth form and people become more relaxed and friends with your teachers, but I felt the exact same in college and I've never experienced bullying there because it's more chill etc.

Yeah fair enough, I got bullied quite a lot in secondary school because I walk in a weird way but tbh it’s not my fault 😂

Yeah haha people seem to find the most random things to bully people on. Good luck with sixth form/ college either way, I'm sure both will have great opportunities and if you ever need anything or my socials then just let me know!