Cardiff Sixth Form College 2026 Entry Applications

Hi! So I'm currently in Year 11 and predicted 14 A*'s in my GCSEs (I do WJEC exam board), I was wondering whether anyone had any advice on whether I should apply to Cardiff Sixth Form - e.g. how will it be different from my current school (which also has a sixth form but is a state school) - if I do apply I'd need to get full scholarship to attend.
I'm currently leaning away from CSFC for a few reasons:
- In my current school I'd be able to continue my flute and violin lessons (free of charge, and there are orchestras)
- The commute to CSFC would be about an hour or more each way, and the lessons being from 8ish to 5pm would mean I'd have to stop basically all my extracurriculars/volunteering (I do some almost every day after school and they usually start between 4 and 6)
- CSFC doesn't offer RE A-level which I am really interested in (though I'd like to study medicine so RE isn't a requirement) and I'm not sure if their other options would interest me as much
- I'm worried that my current accomodations for my health condition wouldn't be continued in CSFC (no idea what their process is)
- My current school enters lots of competitions that are specifically for state schools and usually does rather well (typically through SEREN or other similar organisations)
- I know all the teachers at my current school
- Do they care more about grades and results than how a person is creating work-life balance, doing hobbies etc.?
- I've heard some universities consider your results in context with those of your school, and I'm worried that this would mean CSFC would actually disadvantage me (if I got A*A*A*A* in my current school it's not unheard of, but uncommon at A-level, whereas at CSFC it's common from what I understand?)
Anyway I was wondering if anyone could offer insight into it and if there are other reasons I should consider it? Anyones experiences would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading this.

Hi! So I'm currently in Year 11 and predicted 14 A*'s in my GCSEs (I do WJEC exam board), I was wondering whether anyone had any advice on whether I should apply to Cardiff Sixth Form - e.g. how will it be different from my current school (which also has a sixth form but is a state school) - if I do apply I'd need to get full scholarship to attend.
I'm currently leaning away from CSFC for a few reasons:
- In my current school I'd be able to continue my flute and violin lessons (free of charge, and there are orchestras)
- The commute to CSFC would be about an hour or more each way, and the lessons being from 8ish to 5pm would mean I'd have to stop basically all my extracurriculars/volunteering (I do some almost every day after school and they usually start between 4 and 6)
- CSFC doesn't offer RE A-level which I am really interested in (though I'd like to study medicine so RE isn't a requirement) and I'm not sure if their other options would interest me as much
- I'm worried that my current accomodations for my health condition wouldn't be continued in CSFC (no idea what their process is)
- My current school enters lots of competitions that are specifically for state schools and usually does rather well (typically through SEREN or other similar organisations)
- I know all the teachers at my current school
- Do they care more about grades and results than how a person is creating work-life balance, doing hobbies etc.?
- I've heard some universities consider your results in context with those of your school, and I'm worried that this would mean CSFC would actually disadvantage me (if I got A*A*A*A* in my current school it's not unheard of, but uncommon at A-level, whereas at CSFC it's common from what I understand?)
Anyway I was wondering if anyone could offer insight into it and if there are other reasons I should consider it? Anyones experiences would be much appreciated! Thanks for reading this.

Hey, for context, I am currently an AS student on scholarship and I went to state school my whole life.
Also typing this on my phone sorry for any weird typos
At csfc we have music clubs but not definitely not flute and violin
They do have a commuting cutoff time but im not sure if an hour is past that cutoff. The furthest someone i know lives is in Aberdare
Lessons are 0845-1730. Drop ins are 0800-0845. Clubs are 1800 to roughly 1900. You will not be able to continue 1600-1800 extracurriculars considering your commute
The school is very accommodating with health conditions so that won't be an issue
We dont have seren but we do have a ton (like too many tbh) competitions and extra/supercurruculars
They expect you to get good grades so they focus a lot on work experience, volunteering, and supercirriculars since they aren't a given
Its mainly oxbridge that look at you contextually but last year 8 students got into Oxford (7 of which were locals on scholarship)
Overall my advice would be that if you get good grades anywhere. If you work hard you can get 4 A*s at any school. Csfc does not guarantee good grades, but they only accept students who are very academic, which gets them good grades every year. If you love your teachers, music, extracurriculars, and RE, I would honestly say stay at your sixth form. The csfc name doesnt help much in uni applications and if you can get good grades at another school then what's the point of the long commute and not being able to pursue your hobbies?
Ultimately the decision is yours though because you knoe yourself best
Hope this helps a little