Reply 1
Original post by xdr08
So I'm currently 16 and I'm in Year 12, studying A-levels at my local Further Educaton College's Sixth Form (not to be confused with a standalone sixth form college - this is literally just a small building on the college campus). I performed well at GCSE's, having achieved 999888776, and, rather stupidly, I didn't think too much about where to go for Sixth Form, so I just picked the nearest place, which happened to be the 'sixth form' at my local college. I don't know what I expected but, ever since I started here in September, I've noticed that everything seems to be super laid back and unserious, and I've started to worry about my prospects of getting into a good university to study Law.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
think you are doing well, you're aiming high and working hard towards getting into uni for law. If your sixth form doesn't have a study room, you can also revise at a local library if you don't like revising at home. You’re aware that your teachers are able to teach well but most sixth form teachers don't care if some students don't want to try, that’s their business, they will support the ones who want to try.
To be honest, how well everyone else is doing has nothing to do with you unless they are distracting you from doing your work, which doesn't seem to be happening. Also, this may genuinely work in your favour, some unis look at your grades within the context of your school; if your sixth form tends to achieve below average grades, it may help you get a contextual offer.
Sometimes having a chilled out environment is very nice, A Levels are demanding and get far harder in year 13 so you don't want strict rules adding more unnecessary stress.
When I applied to uni a few months ago, I made no reference to anything I did within sixth form, everything was to do with things I did outside of school. I would recommend reading law books, watching online talks and lectures about law, if eligible applying for Sutton Trust summer schools and getting some relevant work experience if you can, I know uptree tends to have a lot of one day law work experience events available (don't worry if you can't get work experience as law is a highly academic degree). At the end of the day, you need to be proactive and do your own research, you can't expect your sixth form to spoon feed you information about how to build the best application for uni; especially as you are in year 12 and it's not yet time for you to apply, you may get more support in year 13.
If you have any more questions, just ask. Best of luck.
Reply 2
Also, I can tell you a bit about extra support my sixth form gave me, but by February Year 12, I had no support linked to uni admissions yet.
My maths teacher helped me
once every two weeks on practice for the entrance exam I had to take (TMUA). The people doing the LNAT and UCAT were expected to practice independently as those exams are not closely linked to any A Level curriculum content.
We were taken to visit two unis at the end of year 12. Lastly, we were given a mentor in year 13, this person would write our reference, read our personal statement and give us feedback.
I would say this is fairly standard.
My maths teacher helped me
once every two weeks on practice for the entrance exam I had to take (TMUA). The people doing the LNAT and UCAT were expected to practice independently as those exams are not closely linked to any A Level curriculum content.
We were taken to visit two unis at the end of year 12. Lastly, we were given a mentor in year 13, this person would write our reference, read our personal statement and give us feedback.
I would say this is fairly standard.
Reply 3
The honest answer is probably yes, but you're in a fortunate position of being a high achiever, so you already know how to work hard and most likely are resilient enough to get through it.
More structured 6 forms often help lower-achieving students raise their grades and build soft skills as they bring the expectations up, it's often slightly trivial for higher-achieving students as they are more likely to be self-motivated and actively do all the right things. However, there are always outliers to this.
I also wouldn't assume all traditional 6-forms are more structured than college 6-forms, it can be vastly different from school to college.
I moved school for 6-form on an academic scholarship to a small private school and that place expected a lot from people. Everyone in the 6-form had to be there from 8:30-4:30, we had additional mock exams, we had individual mentors, expected to do 2 hrs of enrichment a week, 2hrs of volunteering and everyone had to do an EPQ, or at least start it. We regularly had talks with visitors, would visit different universitys, had career events, had to be involved with school events, do PE, first-aid training, life-skills classes etc etc. Though I wouldn't say any of this particularly got me into university, that was the hard work, the revision, working through holidays, being well-read etc. What it did do though was give people a work ethic so they could achieve regardless of their academic capability, even simple things like knowing how to talk to business leaders. However this could all be done outside of school, you just have to be actively thinking about your future. Every 3months think about doing something that you could add to your CV or talk about in your personal statement.
So to sum it up, focus on yourself, you are more than capable, so work hard and keep going.
More structured 6 forms often help lower-achieving students raise their grades and build soft skills as they bring the expectations up, it's often slightly trivial for higher-achieving students as they are more likely to be self-motivated and actively do all the right things. However, there are always outliers to this.
I also wouldn't assume all traditional 6-forms are more structured than college 6-forms, it can be vastly different from school to college.
I moved school for 6-form on an academic scholarship to a small private school and that place expected a lot from people. Everyone in the 6-form had to be there from 8:30-4:30, we had additional mock exams, we had individual mentors, expected to do 2 hrs of enrichment a week, 2hrs of volunteering and everyone had to do an EPQ, or at least start it. We regularly had talks with visitors, would visit different universitys, had career events, had to be involved with school events, do PE, first-aid training, life-skills classes etc etc. Though I wouldn't say any of this particularly got me into university, that was the hard work, the revision, working through holidays, being well-read etc. What it did do though was give people a work ethic so they could achieve regardless of their academic capability, even simple things like knowing how to talk to business leaders. However this could all be done outside of school, you just have to be actively thinking about your future. Every 3months think about doing something that you could add to your CV or talk about in your personal statement.
So to sum it up, focus on yourself, you are more than capable, so work hard and keep going.
Original post by xdr08
So I'm currently 16 and I'm in Year 12, studying A-levels at my local Further Educaton College's Sixth Form (not to be confused with a standalone sixth form college - this is literally just a small building on the college campus). I performed well at GCSE's, having achieved 999888776, and, rather stupidly, I didn't think too much about where to go for Sixth Form, so I just picked the nearest place, which happened to be the 'sixth form' at my local college. I don't know what I expected but, ever since I started here in September, I've noticed that everything seems to be super laid back and unserious, and I've started to worry about my prospects of getting into a good university to study Law.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
As long as you get the grades required to do what you want at uni, you will get in. What college/6th form you go to shouldnt affect that. And if you have any volunteering/extra curriculars etc, then even better.
With law theres no specific subjects they specify anyway. But as long as you get the required grades you will be fine.
Original post by xdr08
So I'm currently 16 and I'm in Year 12, studying A-levels at my local Further Educaton College's Sixth Form (not to be confused with a standalone sixth form college - this is literally just a small building on the college campus). I performed well at GCSE's, having achieved 999888776, and, rather stupidly, I didn't think too much about where to go for Sixth Form, so I just picked the nearest place, which happened to be the 'sixth form' at my local college. I don't know what I expected but, ever since I started here in September, I've noticed that everything seems to be super laid back and unserious, and I've started to worry about my prospects of getting into a good university to study Law.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
Initially, I thought the idea of only having to come in for lessons here sounded great, but I soon realised that this was probably a bad sign. There is no sense of community or anything here - it's literally just come in for lessons then leave. Besides, many of the students arrive late to lessons, use their phones in class, and just generally do not seem to care about their education at all. Not to mention, some of the students here are well over 18. I know I sound like an ******* and I absolutely should have expected this when choosing to study here, but I really didn't think it'd be this bad. I checked the gov.uk school performance site and the average grade is consistently a D, year-on-year. Luckily, I do really like my teachers and they seem to be really passionate and knowledgable about the subjects, and I'm pretty sure they're aware of the poor state of the college, but, to be honest, I still feel like I'm at a disadvantage by being here.
I'm aiming to get A*s for my A-levels, and I've been doing loads of research and supercurriculars in line with my ambitions to study Law at a good university, and I've even started revising for the LNAT, but, I get virtually no support or opportunities from the college. There are literally no clubs or societies here, and I have been pushing one of my teachers to set up a debate club for months now, with no luck. Therefore, I cannot help but feel like, when it comes to applying to uni later this year, I will be severely disadvantaged with both the application process and support in general, e.g. I doubt anyone else will be considering applying to Oxbridge.
Could anyone let me know how much I'm missing out compared to the experience of a regular state school sixth form, and give me some advice on what to do to make the most of my situation?
TIA.
If you think college is laid back, wait till you get to uni. In first year most students seem to see it as a holiday camp, and go a bit crazy. Living away for the first time, money, alcohol etc.
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