Admissions
Admissions to Year 12 (Age 16)
Applicants who decide to apply for a place at Bow Sixth Form and their parent(s) or carer(s) should read this section carefully alongside the Bow Sixth Form prospectus so that they understand the selection process, timeline and the selection criteria.
A Levels:
We offer a wide range of A level subjects, of which students can choose three subjects. Some candidates may qualify to study four; such applications will be considered on an individual basis. All A level subjects require a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grades 6-9 including English and Maths.
BTEC:
We also offer two BTEC courses, Applied Science and BTEC Business Studies.
All BTEC courses require a minimum of 5 GCSEs at grades 4-9 including English and Maths.
Please note, any enquiries should be made in writing to Sixth Form Admissions.
Offers of places will be made on a common date on or around 30th April each year, conditional on obtaining GCSE or other external examination results in addition to attendance of above 95% and lateness of less than 3%.
Internal applicants will be offered places earlier – from January onwards. These places will be automatically confirmed on providing evidence of the grades required. Places that become available after GCSE results will be offered to remaining applicants, who meet the selection criteria on or immediately after the enrolment day at the end of August.
Capacity and oversubscription criteria
Bow Sixth Form will admit up to 80 students into Year 12 in 2024 (please note that this number is regularly reviewed and may be subject to change depending on capacity). Our total capacity across both year groups is 160.
Places will be allocated to students who have met the overall entry criteria to Bow Sixth Form and the individual subject criteria. Details of these can be found on the school website. https://www.bowsixthform.org.uk/About-Us/Prospectus/
Applicants who do not meet the selection criteria above, and as outlined on our website, will have their conditional offer withdrawn.
If more students apply to Bow Sixth Form than can be accommodated, the following criteria will be applied in order. Please note that these are all subject to meeting the entry criteria discussed previously.
- Students who attended and completed their KS4 examinations at Bow School.
- Students who attended and completed their KS4 examinations at another Tower Hamlets secondary school*.
- Looked after children (LAC) and previously looked after children (PLAC) as defined in the definitions section of this policy. Confirmation of a child’s looked-after status will be required
- Students who have a strong reason to attend the school due to a chronic medical condition or a social care need. This can include the parents’, carers’ or other family members’ medical conditions and the family’s social needs. Confirmation of a child’s medical or social care need will be required.
- Home to school distances will be measured by the shortest walking route from the home address to the nearest available pupil entrance in constant use of to the school, using a computerised digitised map. Please note that you cannot compare distances to those calculated using any personal or online geographical information system software you may have access to such as satellite navigation systems.
*The first 80 places will use criteria 1 to 5.
Bow School may conduct interviews with students to discuss their option choices and suitability but they will not be used to inform application decisions. Bow School reserves the right to admit students out of priority order once subjects reach capacity as the school may be able to offer places to other students whose option choices are still possible. This will be done in order or priority as outlined above.
Late applicants will only be considered after all on-time applicants have been offered places.
Children with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) please contact your SEN caseworker or Home Local Authority for further information regarding the transition to Sixth Form.
Waiting lists
An applicant’s name will be added to the school’s waiting list ranked in the same order as the published admission criteria. Any vacancy that arises will be offered to the next applicant on the waiting list. Waiting lists are operated until the end of the academic year in which the child starts. Applicants will need to reapply if they wish to remain on the waiting list for the following academic year.
Specific Course Requirements:
- For students wishing to study a science course at A Level, having followed a Combined Science course at GCSE, an average of a grade 6-7 is required.
- Students wishing to study two or three sciences, having followed a Combined Science Course, an average grade of 6-7 or higher in the Combined Science Course is required.
- For students wishing to study Biology, Chemistry or Physics, having taken separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry or Physics, a grade 6 or higher is required in the science to be studied in the Sixth Form.
- For Mathematics, a grade 6 at GCSE Mathematics is required.
- For Further Mathematics, a grade 7 at GCSE Mathematics is required.
If the number of applicants for any particular subject exceeds the capacity, GCSE average point scores will be use to allocate places to the particular subject.
Appeal process
If an applicant wishes to appeal against the decision to not offer them, a place in Bow Sixth Form the process is as follows:
- Stage 1: The applicant will have the right to appeal within 5 working days of receipt of the letter informing them of the decision not to offer them a place to the Headteacher of Bow School. The Headteacher of Bow School will investigate the application and inform the student of the result of the appeal within 10 working days of receipt of the appeal letter
- Stage 2: The applicant will then have the right to appeal within 5 working days of receipt of the letter confirming the result of the appeal to the Chair of Governors. The Chair of Governors will investigate the application and inform the student of the result of the appeal within 10 working days of receipt of the appeal letter
Following the above, the school will provide a right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel for internal pupils refused transfer and the school will provide a right of appeal to an Independent Appeals Panel for external applicants refused admission.
