POST-16 ADMISSION POLICY

    PURPOSE:

     To define the policy for admission of candidate students into the Sixth Form at Hinchingbrooke School, Huntingdon, Cambs.

    SCOPE:

    Candidates for admission to AS/A2 courses at Hinchingbrooke Sixth Form.

   POLICY:

1.   CRITERIA FOR ACCESS TO AS COURSES:

• Hinchingbrooke Sixth Form is a level 3 centre; i.e. we offer a range of AS/A2 and applied AS/A2 courses

• The normal minimum general entry requirement is 5 A*-C grades at GCSE level, including mathematics and English. 

If a student achieves only one of mathematics or English at grade C or above then the student’s application will be

reviewed in light of their Key Stage 4 report with regard to effort, attitude and work ethic. Particular attention will be

paid to the report from the subject(either mathematics or English) in which the student failed to achieve a C grade.

• Exceptions to the 5A*-C requirements are normally only made if, for example, a student has unusually underperformed

as a result of severe short-term personal problems, where such problems would not be expected to hinder progress at

AS/A2 level. All such exceptions must be approved by the Assistant Headteacher (Post 16).

• In order to study specific subjects at AS level (Maths, Sciences, English Literature, Languages, Graphics and Resistant

Materials) the normal expectation is that the student will have passed that subject at GCSE grade B or above. Exceptions

to this must be approved by the Assistant Head (Post 16) following discussions with the relevant Head of Department.

•  In order to study Further Maths it is expected that students will have passed maths at GCSE grade A or higher.

• In order to study Critical Thinking at AS level it is expected that students will have achieved grade A or higher in the

majority of their GCSEs.

2.   COURSE PROFILES AVAILABLE:

2.1     4 AS levels; this is the most common profile. Students may opt to take the Applied ICT course in addition to the 4 AS levels.

2.2     3 AS levels plus Applied ICT. This profile will only be available to students who fail to achieve grade B or higher in any

GCSE examination 

2.3     5 AS levels, one of which may be Critical Thinking. This profile will only be available to students who have achieved grade

A or higher in the majority of their GCSE examinations.

3.   GUIDELINES FOR APPLICANTS:

 

3.1     All applications, whether from internal or external sources, will be treated equally as long as they meet the published deadline

date. The deadline date for each year will be published with the application form which can be downloaded from the website:

www. hinchingbrookeschool.net.

3.2    In the case of late applications, students will be treated on a first-come, first-served basis. At this stage access to courses is

evidently subject to availability of places on the relevant course.

3.3    All applicants will be expected to provide a school reference and current predicted grades with their application.

3.4    All applicants will be interviewed by a member of the Post 16 guidance team. These interviews will take place in the second

half of the Spring term.Exceptions to this will only be made for students who might not, at the time of application, be reasonably

expected to have had access to the normal application procedure within the required time scale (e.g. students living abroad or out

of area). The school reserves the right to consider such candidates as a result of other than face-to-face interview (e.g. phone contact).

3.5    All successful candidates will receive a conditional offer of a place within 4 weeks of their interview.

4.   OTHER APPLICATION CRITERIA:

4.1   An application will not be approved for any student who has been the subject of either a managed move within the education

system, or a permanent exclusion from a school.

4.2 In addition to academic requirements the application procedure may include consideration of any candidate’s disciplinary record

within the education system.

In the event of an exception being refused as the result of any of the above, the candidate has the right of appeal to the

Governing Body whose decision will be final.

• CRITERIA FOR ACCESS TO A2 LEVEL COURSES:

• In order to progress from year 12 into year 13 a student must be able to put together a programme of at least 2½ level 3 subjects

(e.g. 2 A2 subjects and 1 AS subject).

• In order to progress to A2 level in any subject a student must have achieved at least a pass grade at AS level in that subject and, in

most circumstances, students will be expected to have achieved a D grade or better at AS level in the subject. Students who wish to

progress to A2 having achieved 2 or more E grades will only be considered for progression if they have a record of excellent effort,

attitude and attendance throughout year 12.

• In order to progress into year 13 it is expected that a student will have successfully completed the CAS24 programme in year 12.

• Where a student has not met the above criteria they will not be able to progress into year 13.