How to Apply

Any potential student will be invited to attend an interview at which Subject Leaders will assess the level of ability in the subjects she would like to take at AS/A Level.

There will also be an interview with a member of the Leadership Team, or another appropriate member of staff, to assess the contribution each student might make to the community and their level of independence and maturity. If the interview is successful, she will be offered a conditional place subject to her GCSE results.

On the day of the GCSE results, the student should telephone the Registrar with her results even if her results have not met the conditional offer made to her earlier in the year. We consider each student individually in the light of the subjects she wishes to study: we may discuss an alternative subject combination if necessary. If the student is successful and would like to join the Old Palace community, we would require sight of the original copies of her results so that we can photocopy them as soon as possible for our records.

Choosing an appropriate programme of study for the sixth form is an important decision. In order to make the right decision a student must discuss options with subject teachers, careers advisors, parents and family; explore possibilities and requirements for courses at University and Colleges; talk to adults currently or previously working in careers of interest and be independent enough to know that they may be being affected by peer pressure or family tradition.

It is important that a student chooses a programme that is challenging whilst achievable, exciting to them and their individual interests and which allows them to achieve as highly as possible in order to demonstrate their suitability for higher education courses and beyond. It is important that students feel free to make their decisions within a supportive, encouraging and non-pressurised environment, with the knowledge that they own their future.

The table overleaf gives the minimum criteria that must be met for automatic acceptance onto a course in Year 12. If these criteria are met and the timetable structure and staffing provision allow, students will automatically be accepted onto the course.

If minimum criteria are not met for automatic acceptance onto a course, consultation between school, parent and student takes place to identify an appropriate programme of study. Students may study between 2 and 5.5 courses dependent upon ability, motivation and realistic career aspirations.

As a guideline, average GCSE score can provide an indication of an appropriate number of Year 12 courses.

Number of courses	Average GCSE Score
5-6	7.6+
4-4.5	6.5+
3-3.5	5.5+
2-2.5	4.5+

It is important to remember that every person is an individual with different strengths, talents and time commitments beyond school, therefore these figures must be taken as a rough guideline only.

We advise students to discuss programmes of study with staff and, in particular , the Careers Advisory team who will be more than happy to help.

Application form