6th form for the smart and college for thick people ?

Robbod said:
Well i have always felt that 6th form is viewed as better than college
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How many 6th forms enable someone to do mechanics, electrical work, business management etc? Not many. They focus on science, math etc. College offers skills and education actually used in the real world rather than generic maths. A levels look good on paper though when applying for uni. That's it. And to be quite frank, the first year of university is also so ridiculously easy I am stunned anyone could fail.

The idea that college is for dummies is just nonsense, but schools want to uphold the view because it gets them money. (I went to a very good grammar school btw, and still went to college because the school simply wasn't equipped for real life. They had very poor resources compared to the cities college.
 
I went to Sixth Form, found that I wouldn't be able to get that good of a job without also going to Uni for 3-4 years.

Went to a college with an apprenticeship after and subsequently ended up in a much better financial and career position than 90% of people I know around my age.
 
Colleges definitely lean towards more practical subjects, sixth form is more academic (ie you'll find it the 'straight track' if you want to pursue tertiary education in elite universities for example).

I think though as a country, we'd benefit from more in college learning practical disciplines - as many have pointed out already, education level is a very poor correlate to earnings....!
 
Scougar said:
How many 6th forms enable someone to do mechanics, electrical work, business management etc? Not many. They focus on science, math etc. College offers skills and education actually used in the real world rather than generic maths. A levels look good on paper though when applying for uni. That's it. And to be quite frank, the first year of university is also so ridiculously easy I am stunned anyone could fail.

The idea that college is for dummies is just nonsense, but schools want to uphold the view because it gets them money. (I went to a very good grammar school btw, and still went to college because the school simply wasn't equipped for real life. They had very poor resources compared to the cities college.
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I guess but someone who does bricklaying, hair or car repair will always be looked as less intelligent than someone who did A levels
 
I stayed at school for 6th form but did a GNVQ, was a complete waste of 2 years but I loved it, had a great laugh plus met my future wife (she did A-Levels and is deff more clever than me).
 
Robbod said:
I guess but someone who does bricklaying, hair or car repair will always be looked as less intelligent than someone who did A levels
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Only by stupid people...

Intelligence comes in many guises, I know quite a few people who are extremely 'book smart", but lack any kind of common sense - take them out of their very small and specific comfort zone and they don't have a clue what they're doing. Conversely you get those who are not "typically" smart, but are excellent problem solvers (these tend to be your mechanic/electrician/etc. types) who can fix pretty much anything once they have a basic understanding of the fundamentals.

Diddums said:
The amount of grammatical errors in this thread tells me that either English is a second language for many posters, or that they're probably not as smart as they think they are.
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You mean like the posters using "amount of" when really they should be using "number of"? ;)
 
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Haggisman said:
Only by stupid people...

Intelligence comes in many guises, I know quite a few people who are extremely 'book smart", but lack any kind of common sense - take them out of their very small and specific comfort zone and they don't have a clue what they're doing. Conversely you get those who are not "typically" smart, but are excellent problem solvers (these tend to be your mechanic/electrician/etc. types) who can fix pretty much anything once they have a basic understanding of the fundamentals.



You mean like the posters using "amount of" when really they should be using "number of"? ;)
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No, I meant amount of ;)
 
Haggisman said:
Who said anything about an alternative vocational subject?

My school had a single small physics lab, and combined biology and chemistry lab. My college had 3-4 of each with far better equipment.

My school had a single "IT suite" (basically a room full of aging office PCs.)
My college had 2 floors dedicated to IT/computing, including a build and networking lab, and a 3D scanning and modelling system running SLI 6800 GTs bought from OcUK (I know this because I specced it for them :p).

A school which stops teaching at A level isn't going to have the budget (or justification) for facilities like that, because they simply aren't required, but because the college teaches up to degree level, they do. Even if they aren't strictly required for A level teaching, the fact the equipment is available opens up the option to use them.
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Well, it depends what sort of college you're referring to, generally, 6th form Colleges teach a-levels (and/or IB) and FE colleges usually focus on vocational alternatives up to and including degree level courses. Though there are some colleges that blur the divide, if you're referring to some FE colleges that teach A-levels alongside all the vocational stuff then sure and perhaps they do have some fancy and not strictly necessary equipment that 6th forms & 6th form colleges don't.

Perhaps if your other local alternatives are not well equipped and/or don't tend to achieve better A-level results then maybe an FE college could be a good option.

I don't think things like a networking lab are really as important as simply having good teachers and a good track record of results and it's not necessarily the case that the local FE college will have a good track record. A university will tend to be even better equipped than an FE college and good A-level or IB results are the key to getting into the best universities.
 
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Haggisman said:
Only by stupid people...

Intelligence comes in many guises, I know quite a few people who are extremely 'book smart", but lack any kind of common sense - take them out of their very small and specific comfort zone and they don't have a clue what they're doing. Conversely you get those who are not "typically" smart, but are excellent problem solvers (these tend to be your mechanic/electrician/etc. types) who can fix pretty much anything once they have a basic understanding of the fundamentals.



You mean like the posters using "amount of" when really they should be using "number of"? ;)
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I agree that is a type of intelligence.

But if it is why aren't those type of skills taught in schools ?
 
Haggisman said:
Ah yes, English is your second language iirc? Or am I thinking of another poster?



Because school doesn't teach you skills, it teaches you to remember facts and pass exams
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This. So many times over.

EDIT: And to be clear, I'm not bashing any form of further learning. 6th form, College etc. Do what you feel confident doing and will benefit your journey forward.
 
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