IM AT NCS SIXTH FORM 2025 applicants AMA

how high do your mock grades need to be to get a provisional offer?

Current y13 student at NCS, ask me anything

What is the general atmosphere like?
What is a regular school day like for you?
Is it really that different from the “less popular”/“higher up “schools

Hi, I'm a year 12 ncs student. I would love to help answer : )
General atmostphere- honestly I found it very crowded, the school outside area is very small so at break time its a bit annoying. For lunch you can leave so it's not a problem there. The teachers don't encourage competition from what I've seen. They prefer to create a collaborative environment where we can learn from each other!
Regular school day-
Period 1- 8:30-9:30
Period 2- 9:30-10:30
Break- 10:30-10:50
Period 3- 10:50-11:50
Period 4- 11:50-12:50
Lunch- 12:50-2:00
Period 5- 2:00-3:00
( Period 6- 3:00-4:00 )
Some people have period 6 based on their options and timetabling, not every day though usually once a week. You do a lesson of your subjects every single day. When you don't have a lesson you have private study.
I'm not sure how to answer the last question 😭.
Hope this was helpful!

generally if u want to get into NCS u need 8s in basically everything. If u look on the website you need to meet the points threshold. I don’t remember my mock grades but my year group didn’t get offers anyways. For reference my actual gcse grades are 9999888776 but most people here generally have 4+ 9a and the rest 8s, at least for the subjects you’re studying. I got a 7 in maths actually but I only do bio chem psych so it didn’t matter.

generally if u want to get into NCS u need 8s in basically everything. If u look on the website you need to meet the points threshold. I don’t remember my mock grades but my year group didn’t get offers anyways. For reference my actual gcse grades are 9999888776 but most people here generally have 4+ 9a and the rest 8s, at least for the subjects you’re studying. I got a 7 in maths actually but I only do bio chem psych so it didn’t matter.

Current y13 student at NCS, ask me anything

How many mocks do you have in year 12 and 13?

generally if u want to get into NCS u need 8s in basically everything. If u look on the website you need to meet the points threshold. I don’t remember my mock grades but my year group didn’t get offers anyways. For reference my actual gcse grades are 9999888776 but most people here generally have 4+ 9a and the rest 8s, at least for the subjects you’re studying. I got a 7 in maths actually but I only do bio chem psych so it didn’t matter.

On results day is it likely to get in with the minimum points of 62 or do I need higher

I’m not sure about getting in on results day but I’m coming back before my a levels to say run away save urself and do not come to NCS 😭

Why whats wrong with NCS 😭

Literally everything idk where to start. The only upside is that for certain subjects (not even all of them) the teachers r good but u can get that at so many other schools that wont make u want to off urself 😭

Whatt is it the social life thats really bad then?

Can a social life be bad if it doesn’t exist
No seriously though, a levels are supposed to be hard but ncs will go out of their way to make your life hell on earth. I don’t even know where to start. There are so many times where I’ve just been shocked at how little this school actually cares. The pastoral system is basically just for show, most of the staff are cold and don’t seem to have any empathy at all. Honestly the majority of the student body has struggled with wellbeing but as long as you’re getting A*s, none of that actually matters to them. Our principal has essentially said she doesn’t care about anyone’s family or personal circumstances and that we need to just come to school and study. I know multiple people who have had panic attacks before coming into school because of how much they hate it here and that is definitely not the worst of it.
Most of my classmates and I genuinely regret choosing ncs and said we wish we’d gone somewhere else. I mean we’ve joked that if you can survive ncs, you can survive anything, so maybe it’s made us more resilient or smt but honestly it’s not worth it at all. If you’re good enough to get into ncs, you’re good enough to get those grades at a better school without your mental health hitting rock bottom.

who are ur teachers wth. i feel like this must mainly be ur psych department or something because maths department, physics department are so blessed. mr rashid, dr farhat , dr cardenas, ms sarwar and mr lo are genuinely some of the kindest and funniest teachers. i feel like ur advice kinda depends on the subjects department

I’m not sure about getting in on results day but I’m coming back before my a levels to say run away save urself and do not come to NCS 😭