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6th form or college?

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
Where did you go after secondary school, 6th form, or college?

What's more fun, where can you meet people to do more crap, where are you more likely to encounter parties and stuff like that?

Basically, which is a better experience before you're 18 and doing that stuff closes in fast?
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've done both....after leaving high school i tried to go to a standard college but i found it a bit weird. Maybe it was just me but it felt like too much of a step up from high school.
    After finding it too difficult, i dropped out after 3 months and enroled in a sixth form college....and didnt look back. Much prefered the more school-structured timetables and lessons....but you get the freedom and social side of a regular college.
    Maybe this was just my college but id say go for sixth form unless you really think your ready to be very self reliant.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i went to the 6th form at my school, as did most of my friends. had a great time. a few of my mates went to college, mainly because they didnt want to do A-Levels, they wanted to do other courses and they loved it. it's personal choice, really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i would imagine 6th form to be a lot like school and personally,i hated school!
    College is great though :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I went to 6th form, and i really liked it, it was structured enough, but at the same time it was laid-back and you were treated with a lot more maturity than what you were at school. A lot of social stuff to do too, although i never went to college, so i guess I'm kinda biased :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    icey wrote:
    i would imagine 6th form to be a lot like school and personally,i hated school!

    Yeah, it is far too much like school. And we still have to follow all the rules...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    yeh i'd imagine 6th form to be too much like school.

    my school didn't have a 6th form attatched to it so i went to a 6th form college.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    A few other things:I don't like about 6th form is that, we get kicked out of our common room so that other people (many the younger students) can use it...

    Also, we HAVE to be in every morning or afternoon whether we have a lesson or not - meaning that on a Wednesday I have to hang around for 3 hours before I actually have a lesson to go to...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote:

    Also, we HAVE to be in every morning or afternoon whether we have a lesson or not - meaning that on a Wednesday I have to hang around for 3 hours before I actually have a lesson to go to...


    see i didn't have to do that.

    warmed me up nicely for uni life!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i went to a 6th form college, it wasnt part of a school but it might aswell have been. We had no fredom whatsoever, we had to sighn a register and bells went at the begining of each lesson.

    i hated it but thats because i found it very cliquey no because of the structure of it
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mel-H wrote:
    i went to a 6th form college, it wasnt part of a school but it might aswell have been. We had no fredom whatsoever, we had to sighn a register and bells went at the begining of each lesson.

    i hated it but thats because i found it very cliquey no because of the structure of it


    thats weird i went to a 6th form college and i found i had quite a bit of freedom. yes, they did a register but i'm glad otherwise i wouldn't have gone very often!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Mel-H wrote:
    We had no fredom whatsoever

    Same here - we're not even allowed to miss on elesson without the teacher having a go at us, asking us where we were last lesson...

    Apart from studying and signing out, we're not allowed to do anything during our free lessons - which just sucks. (I don't always have any form of work of work to do, tbh)

    We're also being forced to do one hour of fitness/sport each week, however there's a terrible selection (for girls anyway) of sports to take part in. And it's on a Wednesday afternoon, when I could actually be working...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    that sounds quite strict for 6th form.. in year 12 we were expected to do an hour of fitness a week but they werent too bothered if we did or we didnt. and for free periods, we were only supposed to go home for two a week and not for the rest, but again noone was too bothered.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Where did you go after secondary school, 6th form, or college?What's more fun, where can you meet people to do more crap, where are you more likely to encounter parties and stuff like that?

    Basically, which is a better experience before you're 18 and doing that stuff closes in fast?
    I went onto college, because for me, 6th form was not available as an option. The school I went to had finished doing 6th form classes around 3 years before I started there. College can be potentially very lonely. The work is harder, and unless you've got a good range of friends socially, it's not a terribly good educational experience.

    Bear in mind also that reaching 18 does not necessarily mean you'll be finished with education. I left college at 18, and chose not to stay in education. I have never regretted that choice. I think after A-Levels, (or whatever you choose to do at 6th form/college) that a break from the education system is well-advised. This is entirely a personal view.

    Some would say the best times come after 18, if/when you go to university.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    6th form is a bit more structured, more like school...though you do still have to put in the effort and don't get chased up as much as you do throughout mandatory schooling. There is often also registration etc that you're supposed to attend, pain in the bum if you're not in a lesson 'til 2pm...though imo you're more likely to be there at 9am at 6th form. ;)

    Colleges aren't necessarily more social (that depends on the people, really) but they do often have a lot more students...including students doing courses other than A Levels which can make for interesting friends and - depending on your college - a variety of extra-curricular possibilities.

    Both depend largely on the individual school or college, it's worth visiting a few different places if you're trying to make a decision.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    We seem to have this arguement every year lol. (Think I asked this question a couple of years ago on here)

    I'm at college at the moment, glad I did and never looked back. Some of my friends went to our school 6th form, some like it but a lot wish they had left school and gone to college! 6th form is way too much like school and if you feel you don't want to be treated like a kid then I strongly recommend college. Unless of course the college is a dump and teachers can't be arsed. I've seen a few colleges like that and they seem to get away with being bad so much more easier than schools.

    But yeah, if the college has a good rep. and you feel you are ready to leave school, then college is probably best for you:)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I went to the school's 6th form to do A-levels, the nearby college onl does vocational degrees, not A-levels.

    my sister however, commuted a good while further away to go to a 6th form collage, which was about the same size as our entire highschool!

    6th form collages are probably better geared towards A-levels, and year 12/13 age group, which is probably a rather good thing. You also may find they have a larger variety of A-levels on offer too


    but finally, the choice is entirely yours! :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'll be going to 6th form in september - to a different school. I feel in 6th form in general people are more prepared to work, it's also more structured. The college nearby me doesn't really do A levels and its not a great college either. It all depends on whats offered near you and what suits you.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i went to an all-girls private school so by the time i got to 16 i definitley wanted to go to a mixed college! there were good and bad points to this though.

    my school had been quite strict and so when went to college i kind of rebelled and became really lazy. i missed lots of classes and didnt do homework. although i did come out with good a-levels in the end i would have done even better at 6th form.

    at college though i obviously had the chance to meet a LOT more boys and different types of people. i think it was character building and prepared me more for university because no one checks up on you there unlike at 6th form where you had to be there everyday from 9-4 unless you had a sick note.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    H-face wrote:
    I went to 6th form, and i really liked it, it was structured enough, but at the same time it was laid-back and you were treated with a lot more maturity than what you were at school. A lot of social stuff to do too, although i never went to college, so i guess I'm kinda biased :p

    :yes: Totally agree. I went to 6th form at my secondary school. I liked the fact that i knew the place and the teachers, and a lot of my friends stayed on too. We saw a different side to school in the 6th form, the teachers were much more laid back with us, treated us with maturity, and the very ones who we were scard of as little ones, would come down the pub with us and get drunk! Many fond memory, and i dont regret a second of it :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I left school early and went to college. I looked at the 6th form and they had better results but it was JUST like the school system I'd rejected, only without the stoopid bow ties. :impissed: :yuck:

    Have you been for taster days with your school? Or to open days? Spend a bit of time in the available places in lessons and free time, most places have a 'vibe'. See if the people there already seem like a crowd you could 'belong' to. Look at the exam results and see where/what their students go on to do etc.

    Don't panic. If you get it wrong and don't like it, it's not the end of the world and you could probably even transfer.

    College/6th form is fun! :thumb: You'll meet new peeps, make new friends, I enjoyed it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Do you usually have to wear a uniform at 6th form? The 6th for of my old school did whereas the 6th form college didn't...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katralla wrote:
    Do you usually have to wear a uniform at 6th form? The 6th for of my old school did whereas the 6th form college didn't...

    we don't, but there are rules as to what we can and can't wear.

    Is it just me, or do the Heads of 6th form only chase up the attendance of people who get EMA? This is what I've found and I hate it - I keep getting letters saying that I won't be paid because I've missed tutorial all week or something - they should know by now that there's a morning and an afternoon when I don't come in because I'm somewhere else... (they don't seem to know this and I know that)
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