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do I move sixth forms for yr 13

i am currently in yr 12 and go to an independent school on a 75% bursary. i'm happy and quite settled since ive been there since my gcses and my teachers like me and i do quite well - i've been selected for a prefects role for yr 13 next year.

the only problem is that recently, the school moved down my bursary from 75% to 50%, starting from next year. this is quite a significant jump and my parents aren't really happy about this. it's very unlikely my current school will give me anything more than 50% as it was originally 25% and after much arguing with my parents, they only moved it up to 50%. i wouldn't have stayed at my current school for sixth form if they didn't give me the bursary and it's annoying because it's tricky to move now.

my parents want me to move because if i stay at my private school for sixth form with the 50% bursary, it will use up all their savings which means they can't use the money to do some construction work that they wanted to do on our house because some of it is old and falling apart. and also, my sister is 99% sure she is moving to a grammar for sixth form and my parents thought it would be good for me to move to a grammar to set her up, so she isn't going somewhere completely foreign to her.

there are two grammar schools that my parents are thinking of sending me to, and she's emailed to check and they're willing to offer me a place as long as i work hard. but there are a couple downsides:
grammar A only offers 3 of the a-levels I am taking: i am taking bio, chem, music and psych, and they don't offer psychology so i would have to drop it, and i don't know if i could handle starting an epq in yr 13
grammar B offers all 4 but all 4 subjects are different exam boards whereas if I went to grammar A, one of the three subjects i'd take is the same exam board so more catchup work for grammar B.
i'd imagine id have to do a lot of catchup work over the summer but this will be extremely difficult as i'm planning to do medicine and i have to revise for the ucat, i have a 3-week summer camp that is compulsory, and also i have my piano diploma exam as well as writing my ucas application i believe.
i'd also have to get used to being in a new school, new friends, new environment etc.

basically the negatives are a lot of hard work but there are positives as well:
obviously the reduced cost + being able to set up my sister
both grammars have around 10+ oxbridge students every year, i really want to do medicine at cambridge so this will be really beneficial, as we only have around 1-2 oxbridge students at my private school every year
both are also very academic with lots of medicine students - often i feel like teachers at my school try to discourage students from taking medicine and they don't offer as much support

also other notes of consideration: i know people at both schools so i won't be completely alone, i'm academic and the type of person who works hard when they encounter a difficult situation, i'd probably be adjusted by the end of yr 13 but it would take a pretty big mental toll, and it would take me a long time to adjust, i'd have no leadership roles if i went to either school.

i feel really conflicted and would love to hear from other people - maybe some people who moved schools for yr 13?

ty x

edit: also, i am currently at a girls only school and my parents would prefer it to stay it that way - grammar A is mixed and grammar B is girls only

update: there's a third grammar school, again not offering me psychology, but two out of three subjects are the same exam board. but there's a lot of controversial stuff surrounding this grammar. it's quite small and it's very very academic and also quite competitive. the travelling time would be the longest around 45mins to 1hr. over 20 oxbridge acceptees

Reply 1

if you think you can keep up with Cambridge grades, move.

Reply 2

Original post
by august_gilmore
i am currently in yr 12 and go to an independent school on a 75% bursary. i'm happy and quite settled since ive been there since my gcses and my teachers like me and i do quite well - i've been selected for a prefects role for yr 13 next year.
the only problem is that recently, the school moved down my bursary from 75% to 50%, starting from next year. this is quite a significant jump and my parents aren't really happy about this. it's very unlikely my current school will give me anything more than 50% as it was originally 25% and after much arguing with my parents, they only moved it up to 50%. i wouldn't have stayed at my current school for sixth form if they didn't give me the bursary and it's annoying because it's tricky to move now.
my parents want me to move because if i stay at my private school for sixth form with the 50% bursary, it will use up all their savings which means they can't use the money to do some construction work that they wanted to do on our house because some of it is old and falling apart. and also, my sister is 99% sure she is moving to a grammar for sixth form and my parents thought it would be good for me to move to a grammar to set her up, so she isn't going somewhere completely foreign to her.
there are two grammar schools that my parents are thinking of sending me to, and she's emailed to check and they're willing to offer me a place as long as i work hard. but there are a couple downsides:
grammar A only offers 3 of the a-levels I am taking: i am taking bio, chem, music and psych, and they don't offer psychology so i would have to drop it, and i don't know if i could handle starting an epq in yr 13
grammar B offers all 4 but all 4 subjects are different exam boards whereas if I went to grammar A, one of the three subjects i'd take is the same exam board so more catchup work for grammar B.
i'd imagine id have to do a lot of catchup work over the summer but this will be extremely difficult as i'm planning to do medicine and i have to revise for the ucat, i have a 3-week summer camp that is compulsory, and also i have my piano diploma exam as well as writing my ucas application i believe.
i'd also have to get used to being in a new school, new friends, new environment etc.
basically the negatives are a lot of hard work but there are positives as well:
obviously the reduced cost + being able to set up my sister
both grammars have around 10+ oxbridge students every year, i really want to do medicine at cambridge so this will be really beneficial, as we only have around 1-2 oxbridge students at my private school every year
both are also very academic with lots of medicine students - often i feel like teachers at my school try to discourage students from taking medicine and they don't offer as much support
also other notes of consideration: i know people at both schools so i won't be completely alone, i'm academic and the type of person who works hard when they encounter a difficult situation, i'd probably be adjusted by the end of yr 13 but it would take a pretty big mental toll, and it would take me a long time to adjust, i'd have no leadership roles if i went to either school.
i feel really conflicted and would love to hear from other people - maybe some people who moved schools for yr 13?
ty x
edit: also, i am currently at a girls only school and my parents would prefer it to stay it that way - grammar A is mixed and grammar B is girls only
update: there's a third grammar school, again not offering me psychology, but two out of three subjects are the same exam board. but there's a lot of controversial stuff surrounding this grammar. it's quite small and it's very very academic and also quite competitive. the travelling time would be the longest around 45mins to 1hr. over 20 oxbridge acceptees

Wow - that sound so immoral that they can reduce a bursary mid-course. Can you threaten to go to the press as this is poor.

You only need three A levels but you don't seem to meet the Cambridge requirement:
https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/courses/medicine-mb-bchir

"To apply to most of our Colleges for Medicine, you will need A level/IB Higher Level or the equivalent in:

Chemistry

2 other science or mathematics subjects from:

Mathematics

Biology or Human Biology

Physics

Further Mathematics"

Reply 3

If you move, move now. Don’t wait until the summer. I know you might lose a terms fees but better to move across now whilst there are only two terms where you might not be in sync with the new school and need to do some catching up.

Reducing your bursery halfway through your A levels is really rubbish, it make me think it there might be something else going on at your current school like financial difficulties.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 4

Staying with the school with the same exam boards would only be beneficial if you have studied the subjects in the same order. If you have missed the teaching of specific units then it may not be any easier to catch up

Reply 5

Hey, if ur gonna do medicine, unfortunately, EPQ does nothing. Only a few selective skls accept EPQs, but again, it makes no difference, so deffo, dont take it unless u need it.

I'd say go to grammar skl A since it offers at least 3/4 of ur subjects with the same board (and as a yr 13 psych student, trust me psych isn't worth it
esp with how hard chem becomes in yr 13).

I moved skls, but mine was from secondary to 6th form, but my subjects for a lvls had to change (since my new skl didn't offer the same a lvls as my secondary).
I can tell you it'll be tough making friends, but yk ppl from there, so you'll be fine.
But ong yr 13 goes by so fast friends dont matter as much-just firm it and focus on ur studies

Also, ik u wanna go to oxbridge, but I'd rly stop looking at how many students go to oxbridge per year as a deciding factor to whether u go or not. While tht can be a factor into whether the skl has good
facilities that allow students to have better education, a lvls is as im sure yk very much up to the individual.
You can come from a crappy skl where mainly everyone fails and still goes to Oxbridge if u work hard enough. You cannot rely on teachers icl.

And while i understand u wanting to go oxbridge, there's no 100% say that you'll get in (friend with all A*s got rejected, grades aren't everything so bit sad that you wont get leadership roles in this new skl but u do hv other extracurriculars)
so dont cater ur skl/subjects to fit with their standards only. There are other med skls out there too with broader requirements.

While i have no doubt ur work very hard and may get into oxbridge, once u get to year 13 you do start realising not everything goes how you want it to (e.g dream unis not working out etc)

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