Questions to ask when choosing an independent sixth form college

Many students and their families would say that strong exam results and university placements are the key sign of a good college. Indeed, some would say that results are the only thing that matters, but that’s a dangerous simplification. It does not take account of the average academic ability of the college’s intake or your own academic potential, let alone other aspects of college life which will affect your well-being. Exam results are published on CIFE colleges’ own websites and, if results for individual subjects are not given, colleges will provide those if you ask.

The difficult bit is working out what those results mean. One way to get behind the headlines is to consider ‘value added’, which relates results to the ability of the students who achieved those results. Good ‘value added’ is an excellent sign that a college is getting the best out of its students. The ALIS scheme gives more information about added-value measures. If you like a college but are worried about some aspect of results, do contact the college’s Principal to discuss your concern.

What’s the maximum class size generally, and what’s the average for the subjects you are interested in? A larger class-size isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and although a very small class gives lots of teacher attention, it’s less easy for students to compare work etc.

And the size of the college may matter to you as well. The average size of CIFE colleges is around 200 students, but some have fewer than 50 students and one has more than 400. A large college may feel rather anonymous, but can also mean that there’s more going on.

Location has two aspects to it. One is the sort of environment you prefer – London or not-London: the big city or a cosier environment outside it. The second is the fact that commuting to college from home will save the cost of accommodation (though you will still have to pay for travel of course). Living away from home can be an excellent half-way house to university freedoms.

Fees will be given on the college website. Our Fees at CIFE colleges page provides links to each college’s website fees page. Fees are often charged ‘per course’ and can be quite complex to work out. Do ask what the fees will be for the course you want, and what extra costs you might need to budget for (exam entry fees for example). Small class sizes mean that fees can be high, and you might want to look at our page on help with fees at CIFE colleges.

What sort of students go to this college, where are they from, and what’s the ability range like? Will you fit in, and will the atmosphere help you learn? These are pretty important questions to ask CIFE colleges, and all quite difficult to find answers to. Then there’s deciding how this might affect you. Do you want to find the others are all just like you? That might be comfortable, but sticking with your ‘own kind’ (whatever that is) isn’t the best preparation to do well in today’s diverse world.

You can be confident that CIFE colleges have good teachers (that’s their number one selling point, and is checked by inspections), but will you be taught by people who can get the best out of you? When you visit a college ask to meet teachers in your subjects to see how they relate to you. But, no college can absolutely guarantee who will be teaching you in the future.

Don’t give too much weight to gleaming labs, rooms full of interactive whiteboards etc. It’s the quality of the teaching interactions which count most. Of course, if a place feels run-down you might rightly question whether that will inspire you to work well.

CIFE colleges pride themselves on attention to the individual, and small classes are a vital part of that. But do find out what’s on offer for a student who is struggling, or who is exceptionally talented. Colleges may also differ in how they keep in touch with parents, how often students meet pastoral staff etc.

If you will be studying away from home, accommodation will be a major aspect of how happy you are. Colleges differ in terms of what they can offer, and our article on accommodation explains the main types available.

Some students join a college solely for the teaching, but is that enough for you? If you’ve got talents in a particular area how can the college assist? Is there much available to help you get to know your fellow students, and what happens at week-ends? Are there things you have to do (apart from work)? The answers depend on the college, and their significance depends on what you want.

Generally CIFE colleges keep rules to the essential minimum. However a college’s policy might be important to you if you’ve had discipline issues in the past. Find out what happens if you’re late for class, or develop a backlog of work. Most colleges have strong rules against illegal drugs and many will not accept a student who has been asked to leave a previous school for involvement with drugs.

Most colleges offer all mainstream A levels plus quite a few less popular subjects. Most also promise to enable any subject combination, but do check if you’re thinking of taking an unusual subject or subject mix. The number and quality of exam results in each subject will help you judge how a college performs and what its most popular subjects are.

Why might this be important? Because in schools it has become common to make weaker students drop subjects, or to refuse them exam entries, as a way to make sure that exam results look good. CIFE colleges will generally keep faith with a hard-working student who is finding it difficult, though many will refuse to enter a student whose attendance has been consistently poor. You might want to check on this if you think you may find the work tough.

The good detective will check ‘official’ and ‘unofficial’ sources. Get answers to your questions from college websites, prospectuses and social media such as Facebook and Twitter (links to all these are on this site’s individual college pages). College inspection reports can provide reassurance, and do visit the college to see the facilities and meet teachers and students. You might find it helpful to talk to past students and their families (if you can). And you’re very welcome to contact CIFE for information about colleges.

Now you’ve found out more, you probably find yourself being pulled in several directions trying to boil it all down into a decision. Doing that is not easy, but here are some ideas to help

• start off with a list and narrow down the choices as you go along.
• Keep notes but don’t expect your notes to make the decision for you
• Talk to as many people as you can, but bear in mind where information comes from in assessing its value.
• Work on the principle of matching your real self to the college: ‘where will I be happy?’ is a good question to ask.
• Rely on your heart for the final decision, but only after you’ve found out as much as you can!