Taster Day Clash 🥲

Hiii everyone
So two of the sixth forms that I've applied to (William Perkin and NCS (Newham Collegiate Sixth Form), my 1st and 2nd choice) have their tasters on the same day (25th June). I'm not really sure which one to go to. I have to confirm attendance before the 11th May.
My question here is about the taster day, but I have some weird feeling that's telling NCS will prioritise students who go to their taster. I'm not 100% sure I want to go there mainly because of the distance 😭.
More info:
William Perkin:
- Have given me a conditional offer
- really close to my house (10min walk, 4 by bus)
- I liked the atmosphere, students, teachers
- some of my friends are also applying
- really good academically, have some percentage of students go to medicine and Oxbridge/Russel Group each year, loads of extracurriculars and uni admissions help
NCS
- Haven't given out offers to anyone
- Didn't go there on the open evening
- 1h 30min from my house with no traffic 🙃🙃🙃
- INSANE academics, I'm sure 94% or something go to Russel Group, and some people even get scholarships to Ivy League!
I don't know people in any of them and haven't really decided which one to go to, but I do have some preference for option 1 since it's really close to my house.
If anyone is/has been in a similar experience or has any advice, please help 🥲🙏🏻 thanks 🤍🩷

Omggg I'm so sorry that's horrid 😭🫂 yeah I suspected the same thing, especially since I didn't get an interview (I think some people did)
I don't think so because I checked their website and email and they said they won't be able to welcome people any other day because they're so "busy" 🙄
Honestly not even universities have schedules this tight 🙈
Would it help if we email them and ask specifically?

I don't think people got an interview but some people did get an email saying that NCS really did want them to go to their school but STILL I think each day it said there's over like 200 people FOR A TASTER DAY that's so annoying
Maybe we can ask them specifically I doubt they'll say yes but it's worth a try

Ooh okay then
Yeah ikr it's ridiculous 😅
Okay I'll try to ask them then, I hope it helps 😅

Hiii everyone
So two of the sixth forms that I've applied to (William Perkin and NCS (Newham Collegiate Sixth Form), my 1st and 2nd choice) have their tasters on the same day (25th June). I'm not really sure which one to go to. I have to confirm attendance before the 11th May.
My question here is about the taster day, but I have some weird feeling that's telling NCS will prioritise students who go to their taster. I'm not 100% sure I want to go there mainly because of the distance 😭.
More info:
William Perkin:
- Have given me a conditional offer
- really close to my house (10min walk, 4 by bus)
- I liked the atmosphere, students, teachers
- some of my friends are also applying
- really good academically, have some percentage of students go to medicine and Oxbridge/Russel Group each year, loads of extracurriculars and uni admissions help
NCS
- Haven't given out offers to anyone
- Didn't go there on the open evening
- 1h 30min from my house with no traffic 🙃🙃🙃
- INSANE academics, I'm sure 94% or something go to Russel Group, and some people even get scholarships to Ivy League!
I don't know people in any of them and haven't really decided which one to go to, but I do have some preference for option 1 since it's really close to my house.
If anyone is/has been in a similar experience or has any advice, please help 🥲🙏🏻 thanks 🤍🩷

hi im a ncs student. i would say that do go to the taster event, especially since u missed the open evening. if ur gonna be choosing between schools, u should at least know the environment beforehand and be able to ask any questions u have in person to both teachers and current students. it is a work hard achieve well environment, and not everyone may enjoy that. i for one didnt think it was for me but after attending both the open day and taster day, i realised i rlly liked the sklm teachers and environment. and now as a current student im rlly happy i chose ncs. honestly with choices like this, u should be going to open day, esepcially if it does end up being an hr and a half journey, u are going to want to stay at the skl. if it makes u feel better, there are plenty of students in my year who do travel over an hr to skl every day. it does mean waking up slightly early but if thats the only cost to an amazing future uni then so be it. ur future self will thank u!

Do let me know what they say!! I didn't even receive my qr code yet 😭😭

Hiii everyone
So two of the sixth forms that I've applied to (William Perkin and NCS (Newham Collegiate Sixth Form), my 1st and 2nd choice) have their tasters on the same day (25th June). I'm not really sure which one to go to. I have to confirm attendance before the 11th May.
My question here is about the taster day, but I have some weird feeling that's telling NCS will prioritise students who go to their taster. I'm not 100% sure I want to go there mainly because of the distance 😭.
More info:
William Perkin:
- Have given me a conditional offer
- really close to my house (10min walk, 4 by bus)
- I liked the atmosphere, students, teachers
- some of my friends are also applying
- really good academically, have some percentage of students go to medicine and Oxbridge/Russel Group each year, loads of extracurriculars and uni admissions help
NCS
- Haven't given out offers to anyone
- Didn't go there on the open evening
- 1h 30min from my house with no traffic 🙃🙃🙃
- INSANE academics, I'm sure 94% or something go to Russel Group, and some people even get scholarships to Ivy League!
I don't know people in any of them and haven't really decided which one to go to, but I do have some preference for option 1 since it's really close to my house.
If anyone is/has been in a similar experience or has any advice, please help 🥲🙏🏻 thanks 🤍🩷

It depends on the timings.
If it was me, I would register for both and go to NCS in the morning, then leave at lunch to go for William Perkin. You have an offer from Perkin, so it should be ok to go in the afternoon (make up an excuse for being late).
If you don't want to do that then focus on NCS for the entire day since you don't have an offer from them. Good luck

Hiii! Thank you so soo much for the advice
I'm really glad you like it there. I for one am a fan of the work hard achieve well environment they're promoting, but my main issue was distance, so yes what you're saying does make it feel a bit better 😅
I think you've actually convinced me 😊 thanks for all the help ☺️
What subjects are you taking? What in your opinion is the best thing about the school?

Hiii everyone
So two of the sixth forms that I've applied to (William Perkin and NCS (Newham Collegiate Sixth Form), my 1st and 2nd choice) have their tasters on the same day (25th June). I'm not really sure which one to go to. I have to confirm attendance before the 11th May.
My question here is about the taster day, but I have some weird feeling that's telling NCS will prioritise students who go to their taster. I'm not 100% sure I want to go there mainly because of the distance 😭.
More info:
William Perkin:
- Have given me a conditional offer
- really close to my house (10min walk, 4 by bus)
- I liked the atmosphere, students, teachers
- some of my friends are also applying
- really good academically, have some percentage of students go to medicine and Oxbridge/Russel Group each year, loads of extracurriculars and uni admissions help
NCS
- Haven't given out offers to anyone
- Didn't go there on the open evening
- 1h 30min from my house with no traffic 🙃🙃🙃
- INSANE academics, I'm sure 94% or something go to Russel Group, and some people even get scholarships to Ivy League!
I don't know people in any of them and haven't really decided which one to go to, but I do have some preference for option 1 since it's really close to my house.
If anyone is/has been in a similar experience or has any advice, please help 🥲🙏🏻 thanks 🤍🩷

im taking econ physics maths and fm (looking to go into finance). the best thing about the skl in my opinion is between the teachers and ipads. every teacher in the skl is extremely qualified. as in a lot of them went to uni at oxford, cambridge, imperial, UCL etc. and theres quite a few w phds and decades of experience teaching (like some of the SLT and science teachers). its nice since they know so much about the subject and so can explain extermely complex topics to u in much simpler and digestable ways, which is common especially for maths and physics ive found. and teachers are on a whole really kind and most of them are funny too (there are strict teachers though but in a way every teacher is "strict"). also the ipads are incredibly helpful in ways i never even imagined. since every student gets an ipad, lessons are automatically synced into ur ipad. so during lessons, u have ur own copy of the slides that u can annotate. u also have access to the teachers slides + annotations which u can go over after skl or in ur free time if ur struggling. its just really convenient having ur lessons, ur own revision notes, hw and everytning all in a single ipad (which is also backed up centrally) rather than carrying 10 diff folders and books. however it would be unfair if i didnt mention some disadvantages. the skl is kinda strict, especially on uniform, timing and homework. uniform and timing isnt an issue for most students though. but ncs homework is a LOT. the main jump i say form y11 to y12 isnt content (since teachers explain well) but rather homework. for further, u get 15-20 pages every 2 weeks to complete which is a lot. but i will say that it DOES help in future. the homework is usually exam style questions and rlly difficult ones that test ur understanding. but it also means u do a lot better on real tests. and if ur struggling on hoemwork ur always encouraged to ask teachers for help. its one of the big reasons why the skl has one of the best a level results in the country

Dont go to NCS im a current yr 13 and its been the worst decision on my life going to that school

I'm really sorry you feel that way
What do you not like in particularly if you don't mind me asking? Is it mainly the environment or the teachers or?

Literally every aspect of it
- we arent allowed to play cards at lunch because it is unprofessional
- we arent allowed in the main building and lunch or break unless we are silently studying
- no cafeteria
- no common room
- no cultural day as Mr ismail said “we dont want to associate ourselves with those types of people”
- rarely turn the heating on in winter, chemistry and biology teachers literally use bunsen burners to heat their classrooms, we arent allowed to wear coats in the building as it is unprofessional which makes sense but SLT literally wear them inside the building anyways
- the head teacher said in a meeting that family issues and personal problems are all just excuses (yet they attempt to promote mental health and tell us to come to the safe guarding team with out problems for support, when all they do is tell us we should make a structured time table and stick to it instead of actually supporting their students)
- insane workload, you are set 4 hours of homework a week per subject (without marking + reclection time included which takes minimum another hour) and then if your put in intervention thats another 2 hours of homework a week and intervention is inplace of private study making you lose time you could have spent revising. Leaving you 2 hours a week for your own revision for the topics you need which isnt realistic and homework forces you to revise what
Teachers want you to do.
- biology and chemistry departments are good
- psychology department is poor
- in maths there is a teacher who doesnt speak English fluently and has difficulties understanding and answering questions clearly. I raised concerns about this with the head who stated that i should take my learning into my own hands and that i should take time out of hours i should be revising to learn the content. Which takes away NCS’s whole standards of employing the best teachers.
- when issues are raised from students towards the teachers they are dismissed heavily and students often feel blamed
- we are blamed for getting bad grades instead of being supported
Honestly its not the environment that suits growth for me personally and i wouldnt recommend it but to each their own. Definitely could have been better if i stayed at my secondary school for sixth form with teachers who i know are genuinely supportive.

i would like to add to a couple of the stuff u said js to add a bit of context. no cafeteria is only an issue for some students .majority of students that i know of get their lunch from local shops (and theres LOADS including Lidl, Sams, KHF, Subway, Sainsbury's and pizza shops and more on High St). if u bring in food (whether packed or like a sandwhich from tescos) u can eat inside the school . also "2 hours of week for independent revision", are u referring to ps? and tbh hw does serve as revision since its all exam style qs of the topic we are currently doing/ last completed, i agree bio and chem departments are good but i would also add physics and maths. i think i know which teacher u are talking about with the "bad" english (his name starts w an L) but honestly he isnt bad at all and he does know english. its kinda crazy u would even say that when hes perfectly fluent in english, he just has an accent. ur kinda making it sound like he struggles to form basic sentences which is a bit of an odd argument?

Literally every aspect of it
- we arent allowed to play cards at lunch because it is unprofessional
- we arent allowed in the main building and lunch or break unless we are silently studying
- no cafeteria
- no common room
- no cultural day as Mr ismail said “we dont want to associate ourselves with those types of people”
- rarely turn the heating on in winter, chemistry and biology teachers literally use bunsen burners to heat their classrooms, we arent allowed to wear coats in the building as it is unprofessional which makes sense but SLT literally wear them inside the building anyways
- the head teacher said in a meeting that family issues and personal problems are all just excuses (yet they attempt to promote mental health and tell us to come to the safe guarding team with out problems for support, when all they do is tell us we should make a structured time table and stick to it instead of actually supporting their students)
- insane workload, you are set 4 hours of homework a week per subject (without marking + reclection time included which takes minimum another hour) and then if your put in intervention thats another 2 hours of homework a week and intervention is inplace of private study making you lose time you could have spent revising. Leaving you 2 hours a week for your own revision for the topics you need which isnt realistic and homework forces you to revise what
Teachers want you to do.
- biology and chemistry departments are good
- psychology department is poor
- in maths there is a teacher who doesnt speak English fluently and has difficulties understanding and answering questions clearly. I raised concerns about this with the head who stated that i should take my learning into my own hands and that i should take time out of hours i should be revising to learn the content. Which takes away NCS’s whole standards of employing the best teachers.
- when issues are raised from students towards the teachers they are dismissed heavily and students often feel blamed
- we are blamed for getting bad grades instead of being supported
Honestly its not the environment that suits growth for me personally and i wouldnt recommend it but to each their own. Definitely could have been better if i stayed at my secondary school for sixth form with teachers who i know are genuinely supportive.