Information for Higher Education Providers
Contextual Information – September 2022
Wilmslow High School is an oversubscribed co-educational 11-18 comprehensive school with over 2000 students, including close to 450 in the sixth form. Approximately 16% of our Year 7-11 students are Pupil Premium funded, with 27 students in the sixth form who were formerly Pupil Premium funded and 19 currently in receipt of a bursary. We have a fully comprehensive catchment including students with IDACI scores of 0.01 and those from some of the most deprived Lower Super Output Areas (LSOAs) in the northwest.
Annually, 60-70% of our Year 11 students progress into our sixth form and around 40 external students choose Wilmslow High School for their post-16 studies. Many of our external students have been rejected by their own 11-18 schools (independent and state), for failing to acquire sufficient top grades. Around 75% of our Year 13 students progress to Higher Education.
In 2019, OFSTED found the school to be ‘good’.
Sixth form provision
Students are required to achieve a minimum of five GCSEs at grade 4 or above in order gain a place in our sixth form. Each individual course, however, has its own entry requirements and these are available on our website.
Wilmslow High School aims to provide a broad and powerful curriculum for all students. In the past, the curriculum provision for sixth formers has consisted largely of A Levels or the BTEC Extended Diploma in Sport (Performance and Excellence). Our A Level courses include Further Mathematics, Computer Science, Economics, Philosophy, French, German and Spanish
In recent years we have extended our range of BTEC courses in order to encourage more Year 11 students to stay with us into the sixth form and to ensure that our students are taking the most appropriate blend of courses. From September 2017, we now offer Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, Information Technology, Sport and Physical Activity Development, Law and the level 3 Diploma in Food Science and Nutrition when we have sufficient numbers to make these courses viable.
The Extended Project Qualification and Core Maths are also available to students; Core Maths is timetabled from the beginning of sixth form study and completed in one year and students start their EPQ work in Year 12.
Students now in Year 13 who started sixth form in September 2021 were required to take 3 A Level (or BTEC) choices. Only a few very high performers and those wishing to take Further Mathematics were given permission to take 4 courses. Unfortunately, funding pressures have meant that we have had to reduce the number of courses on offer and have therefore been unable to offer Music Technology or Theatre Studies.
We have largely been able to limit sixth form class sizes to a maximum of 23 students. However, our size means that we have larger class sizes than the average 11-18 school.
Students who have yet to gain a grade 4 in English Language and Mathematics are identified at the start of Year 12 and receive timetabled lessons to support them. Although English Language and English Literature are now interchangeable as a result of Progress 8 measures, we encourage those who have not gained a grade 4 at GCSE level to continue their study of English Language with university entry and employment in mind.
AS Entry in 2022
We did not enter the cohort as a whole for any AS examinations in 2022.
Talented mathematicians have the opportunity to sit A Level Mathematics in Year 12 and Further Mathematics in Year 13 but they do not all choose to do so.
UCAS Predicted Grades
Colleagues are encouraged to be realistic yet aspirational in their UCAS predicted grades, in line with messages received from UCAS and university representatives at the UCAS Adviser Conference.
Our current Year 13 students were able to sit end of Year 12 assessments in late June 2022. These results have formed the basis of the UCAS grades although teachers are encouraged to use their overall knowledge of their students and their assessed work through Year 12.
Predicted grades have been decided in September 2022 but students have opportunities to improve their predicted grades up to 30 November when they are fixed.