How do home educated children apply to post-16 options?
Q: How do home educated children apply to sixth form college or school for A levels - or other courses - if they have done GCSEs at home? What happens about predicted grades?
A: First of all - it does depend a bit on the sixth form or college they want to go to, as some are more competitive than others, so you need to check in to find out what sort of entry requirements are likely to be needed for the courses they want to do.
However, mostly post-16 college applications and interviews are not really about fighting your way in, they are about checking that you are choosing the right courses for your interests and goals. So while they often do want you to put predicted grades, it doesn’t have the same importance that it does at university level, and they can readjust if the grades turn out not to be as expected.
Practically:
Students usually apply for post-16 places between October and February of the year before they expect to start. Colleges and sixth forms often have open days around October time which are worth going to in your area to look at courses and chat to admissions people (we went in year 10 to check on future plans and then again in year 11 for final decisions). Some colleges have taster sessions for particular subjects too. They usually have websites and prospectuses so look out for those.
There are different options at post-16, some mainly do academic (eg A levels), sone mostly vocational (eg T level and BTEC), some do both. Some are attached to schools and some are separate. So do look around to see what will suit your child from your available options.
Students can apply to multiple post-16 options and sometimes big colleges will let students apply for both an academic and a vocational course - they firm up a final choice on enrollment after GCSE results.
Entry requirements are different for different courses. Typically for A levels it is a minimum of 5 GCSEs grade 4+, with a higher grade (5,6 or sometimes 7 for maths) in the subject they want to study. But some can be higher and want up to 8 GCSEs and/or higher grades. They usually have a website or prospectus that tells you the standard entry requirements. Vocational courses that start at level 2 or 1 are usually lower and there will be some options for those who have got all lower grades at GCSE - but they may not be the courses they want to do! There may be some allowances for having been home educated but anecdotally this is becoming rarer and you are relying on an exception so it’s more risky - the safest approach is to work on getting whatever entry requirements are needed for what they want to do. But if you end up in a position where that hasn’t happened, it is always worth asking anyway.
For applications, we have put down actual grades from exams they had already taken, and our own predictions for ones they hadn’t, based on past papers and that sort of thing, but mostly just going for enough to get them on the course but not looking crazy optimistic. Mine wanted to do 4 A levels so needed 7+ and had got 7-9 in existing GCSEs so I just went with 7s and 8s. They also had to write a personal statement (again this is about checking the course matches their interests and goals).
Then they got asked to interview. They were supposed to bring a school report along to this to check on grade predictions so I wrote one for them basically saying the different ways they had studied for each subject but no-one looked at it. Again this wasn’t a tough questioning interview, it was about do you really want to do 4 A levels, what extra curriculars are you interested in, that’s an interesting combination of subjects, are you sure, etc.
At that point they were offered a place, got invited along to transition days etc. Then they had an enrolment appointment after GCSE results where they had to take along results slips and do final sign up. If they hadn’t got the results needed for the courses they had applied for, this would have been the time to look at alternatives and see what courses they could choose from based on their grades and availability of other courses.
I have heard of some colleges asking for references - again you can do the ‘school report’ thing and write something yourself detailing the evidence you have of the work they have done. I focused on things I thought they might worry about - for example experience of working to deadlines and working with other people - as well as the resources they’d used and the work they had covered. This might be through courses they’ve done or through other things like sports or music.
Above all, don’t be afraid to ask admissions staff or course tutors at the college or school if you have any concerns (although be aware that frontline staff may not be aware of unusual circumstances and so you might have to explain a few things or go to someone else) - and how they respond can be a good indication of how well the setting will work for your child!