Year 13 and 14
Bangor Grammar School
Admissions Criteria for entry to the Sixth Form (Year 13)
2011 - 2012
(These criteria are in draft form awaiting review by the Admissions Committee and formal adoption by the Board of Governors)
The Rôle of the Board of Governors
The Board of Governors draws up the admissions criteria for entry to Years 13 and 14 on the advice of the Headmaster and delegates the responsibility for their application to the Headmaster and such other senior members of staff as the Headmaster deems necessary and appropriate. The Headmaster will report to the Admissions Committee of the Board of Governors, which will have the responsibility on the Board’s behalf of ensuring that the process has been carried out fairly and transparently in compliance with the published criteria. The Admissions Committee will review the criteria and report to the Board of Governors annually to allow for a full review and evaluation of the admissions process.
Principles
The Headmaster, on behalf of the Board of Governors, will ensure that
(i) the admission of applicants to Years13 – 14 will not cause the total number of pupils in the School to exceed the authorised enrolment number; and
(ii) the admission of applicants to Years 13 or 14 will not cause the Department’s guidelines on the maximum numbers of pupils in practical classes to be exceeded or in any other way compromise the School’s resources or ability to deliver the curriculum.
This policy should be read in conjunction with the School’s Curriculum Policy and each is judged to be part of the other.
Pupils admitted to the Sixth Form will, in the number and choice of their AS or A2 subjects, be expected to conform to the principles outlined in the School’s Curriculum Policy (The Sixth Form).
The offer of a place in the Sixth Form will be conditional upon the pupil’s formal agreement to abide by the School’s expected standards of conduct, appearance and commitment to work.
A pupil may only be admitted to the Sixth Form if the School is able to meet his curricular choice on the timetable. While every effort is made to accommodate pupils’ stated choices, the necessary configuration of the timetable will occasionally prevent the School from offering certain combinations of subjects.
Year 12 Pupils of Bangor Grammar School
The minimum requirement for entry to Year 13 and AS courses following the GCSE examinations for pupils at Bangor Grammar School will be
1. Seven GCSE passes at Grade C and above, amounting to a minimum of 11 GCSE points where A* = 4, A = 3, B = 2 and C = 1 and
2. a satisfactory record of attendance, punctuality and behaviour in Year 12.
The School will normally expect a pupil to have achieved at least a grade B in the subjects he wishes to take at A Level. Full details about the criteria for each A Level subject will be found in the current version of the information booklet, Subject Choices Post GCSE.
Where the performance of a pupil in his GCSE examinations has been affected by verifiably serious and sustained illness or any other verifiable reason deemed, in the opinion of the Headmaster or Academic Vice-Principal, exceptional and beyond the control of the pupil concerned, the School may admit the pupil on the basis of a reduced tariff.
Pupils, who have studied GCSE subjects at other schools, applying for admission to Year 13.
The same criteria as apply to BGS pupils will apply to applicants from outside the School, except that no place will be offered until the School has confirmed that, by accepting them, the enrolment number for the School will not be exceeded. No external applicant will be admitted with less than the minimum requirement specified above.
In cases where there are more external applicants for places in Year 13 than there are places available, all external applicants will be placed in a rank order on the basis of their GCSE scores (A* = 4, A = 3, B = 2 and C = 1) and those with the highest scores in the rank order will be admitted first. In the event of there being more applicants who have met the criteria outlined above and have the same GCSE score than there are places available, priority will be given to those who live nearer to the School, as measured by straight line distance on the OSNI website from their home to the main entrance of the School.
The offer of places will, however, be conditional on classes not exceeding maximum numbers. If the offer of a place on the basis of the rank order would cause a class or classes to exceed what the School deems in the light of its resources, to be a maximum number, the offer will be made conditional on his choosing a different set of subjects. Should he not wish to do this, the offer will be made to the pupil next in the rank order, for whom these conditions will likewise apply.
Admissions Criteria for entry to the Sixth Form (Year 14)
Pupils of Bangor Grammar School
The minimum requirement for entry to Year 14 and A2 courses following the GCSE examinations for pupils at Bangor Grammar School will be passes in three AS subjects at Grade E or above.
Other than in exceptional circumstances, places in Year 14 will not normally be offered to external applicants. Where an applicant’s circumstances are deemed by the Headmaster or Academic Vice-Principal to be exceptional and the minimum requirements have been met, a place will be offered ONLY when the pupil’s combination of A2 subjects and examination boards can be accommodated.
Pupils in Year 13, who fail to meet the minimum requirements for entry to Year 14, will not be permitted to progress. In such cases, consideration will be given to the possibility of repeating Year 13 ONLY
• when the pupil’s record in terms of behaviour and commitment to academic work in the previous year is deemed by the Headmaster and Academic Vice-Principal to have been satisfactory;
• when there is a place available after all pupils progressing from Year 12 have been placed;
• when the pupil’s combination of subjects can be accommodated;
and
• it is deemed by the Headmaster and Academic Vice-Principal to be in the pupil’s best interests.