Changing school for 6th form?

The_Jatt_Joker

Hi,

I am currently in year 11 waiting for my results and i also applied for a grammar school and received a conditional offer. The thing is I'm not sure I should move there. Can anyone who has been in a similar position help me out please.

Thank you.

P.s i would like to apply to a top 10 uni for medicine I've heard it shouldn't make a difference but i would like to clear it up. Also good luck to everyone with their results.

Hey, I'm sure I can help with this as I was in a similar situation last year.

The school I was at was pretty rubbish but I knew it and the teachers well, I still wanted to leave though as I knew it would be the best thing for me to do..

Last minute though I chickened out and decided to stay at my current school. 3 weeks into the September term, I decided I'd made the wrong decision and was determined to do something about it.
Amazingly the other school had me back in for another interview and still let me in!

The end result -> best choice of my life. If you think the other schools going to be better for you, don't worry about going and making friends or whatever, because you will quite easily in sixth form. I think a change of scenery can really help to stop you getting bored in sixth form too, as you've been at your current school 5 years now I assume.

In the end, the decision is yours. If the other school is considerably better though, I'd go for it if they let you in!

Reply 2

OP

Anyone?

Reply 3

OP

Thank you im also worried about the change in atmosphere as the schooli go to now is very chilled but at the grammar school you can get saturday detentions!

And what about changing the other way grammar to the old school?

Reply 4

The_Jatt_Joker

Thank you im also worried about the change in atmosphere as the schooli go to now is very chilled but at the grammar school you can get saturday detentions!

And what about changing the other way grammar to the old school?

I suppose you won't really know for sure, I assume you've been on an induction of some sort there? Or had a tour or something. Did it seem like somewhere you wanted to go?

I wouldn't worry about Saturday detentions, nobody I know has gotten a detention in sixth form, it's just not something they do as you're there by choice. So in general people don't mess around enough to get one.

Would your other school have you back if you went to the grammar school for 2 weeks say and then hated it and wanted to go back? If they would, then you'd have nothing to lose by trying the new school, at least you wouldn't always have that thought "What if.."

Reply 5

gravityisamyth

I was like you are now, except I didn't switch to a grammar school.

The school I was at was really good and there was the nice security of knowing everyone etc, but I chose to move to another school for sixth form because I wanted something new.

I think it's definitely worth changing-you get to meet new people and push yourself out of your comfort zone. And it's a change of scenery as another poster has said.

Reply 6

OP

yeah i thought it would be cool to change also i spoke to my current course teachers they said i could move back but the head of 6th form said i cant?

Reply 7

The_Jatt_Joker

yeah i thought it would be cool to change also i spoke to my current course teachers they said i could move back but the head of 6th form said i cant?

Hm, the head of sixth form would be the one who ultimately decides whether you could come back I assume.
I think if you get good enough GCSE grades though and really explain why you want to come back then they WILL let you back. But I really think that you probably won't want to!

Reply 8

midnightmushrooms

Although I'm not changing to a grammar school, I decided to switch to a new one for sixth form too because of options. (What school doesn't allow you to combine history and art, eh?) I talked to both schools and my old one has said it would keep me a place open in case I changed my mind for a few weeks :smile:

. Just talk to both schools and see if you can keep your options open - but do go to the new one, changing schools is soooo much fun :biggrin:

Reply 9

OP

yeah i will probably end up going and see how it goes this might sound a bit stupid but if i go to a grammar school will all these scholarships to Cambridge and stuff still be available?

Reply 10

sam-silver

i changed schools for sixth form and i had a great time. i was the only new person which was a bit scary but i think that helps prepare you for after sixth form!

Reply 11

The_Jatt_Joker

yeah i will probably end up going and see how it goes this might sound a bit stupid but if i go to a grammar school will all these scholarships to Cambridge and stuff still be available?

Hmm I should think so? They're based on household income aren't they not the quality of the school you go to.

Reply 12

OP

great thanks for all your help and now just waiting for my results to come. and good luck to all of you as well

Reply 13

Leighthesim

2

Scholorships are there whatever as long as you choose them as your firm choice, but I have decided that I am going to stay at my current school because I like my teachers and it is nice and close but if I did try another school they would be happy to accept people back into my current school

Reply 14

OP

yeah my school is really close to me and the grammar takes me three buses but then again this can all be a learning experience

Reply 15

taheki

13

I wanted to leave my comprehensive school at the end of year 11.. I got into a grammar school and went there for Sixth Form. To be brutally honest I had an absolutely terrible time there.

I was really popular at my old school, because I'd had 5 years to build up a strong group of friends. But at the new school I didn't know anyone, thought everyone was a lot more outgoing than me and subsequently lost all of my confidence. It's not like I didn't have friends - I had a few but they weren't good friends. It's not like everyone hated me either.. but hardly anyone actually knew me at all. I guess I'd never had to try to make friends, and when the time came I really didn't have the balls to approach all of these people who were already in old friendship circles because they'd been at the school since year 7. So I was losing touch with my old friends, and not making any new ones to replace them.

Anyway, because it felt like I was having a terrible time from the beginning, I got into a weird state of mind where I was always looking for reasons to dislike or blame the school. I worked relatively hard for my GCSEs but lost all motivation to work for my A levels. I went from being a top student to being at the bottom of the class. I lost motivation to do any work at home and my relationship with my family got a little bit choppy - I suffered from mild to fairly strong depression from the Janurary in year 12 through to the Easter of year 13... it was at it's worst around Christmas in year 13.

By the time final exams came I wasn't actually too bad. I'd given up on 2 of my A levels as I'd begun to think "if I start trying hard at this point I could come out with a D", but I didn't want Ds, I wanted As and Bs. I basically knew that I wasn't going to apply for university with low grades, so it wouldn't matter how badly I did because I could only do badly anyway. So I had this annoyingly arrogant relaxed feel about me. Admittedly I did put a little burst of effort into Geography at the end because I knew I could still do okay in it at that point, and hopefully I'll come out with an A or B.

I have to say I still don't regret going there. This is because I know that if I had stayed at my old school I would've spent the whole time saying I should be at the grammar school and may have had a whole different set of problems.

I would actually recommend that you do go to a different school for sixth form. It's good preparation for university as you'll have to try and get to know a lot of people almost straight away. I can only really blame myself for what happened to me, not the school. There were a few things which added to my problems like a bad relationship with one of my teachers and a lack of support from the school, but overall sixth form will be what you make of it.

Sorry about the essay, but you asked :smile:

Reply 16

DMed

15

I think it's a good idea to move, as it'll give you a change of scenery. I moved to college in the centre of town. Which, except for the hour trip there and back (which in hindsight was an annoyance, but a good chance to chat to people), it was the best decision I made, and the group I was in at college are still as close as we were on the last day of college.

As for the prestiege of the college, it won't make a difference, as the Unis don't know or care how good your college is, it's down to your grades an how you interview.

Reply 17

The_Jatt_Joker

yeah my school is really close to me and the grammar takes me three buses but then again this can all be a learning experience

3 buses!? You might want to think about that mate, you'll soon get fed up with that.

I have a friend who spends 2 hours a day on buses going to college, they love the college but are completely fed up with the travelling.

Reply 18

OP