General Entry Requirements

Our three schools, being comprehensive, admit a wide ability range to their Sixth Forms.

Our entry requirements can be found below. However, in general terms, we require applicants to have at least a 6 in the subjects you wish to study, (or their closest GCSE equivalent), and to have achieved a minimum average point score of 4. If you wish to study separate sciences at A Level you must achieve an APS of 6+.

How to Calculate Entry Thresholds

To work this out, add together all the points for your grades (remember that Double Science counts as two subjects). Then divide by the number of subjects. Short course (half) GCSEs should be included but with half the number of points e.g. grade 6 on a short course is worth 3 points. You may include up to two BTEC subjects where a pass is equivalent to a 4, a merit a 5.5 and a distinction a 7. Each BTEC counts as one GCSE.

Please note that we expect a minimum of 8 GCSEs (or equivalent) to be used in this calculation. To find your APS where fewer qualifications have been sat the total point score should be divided by 8.

On your application, you need to do this calculation using your target grades and the grades you have achieved in Year 11 mock exams in order to help you begin to decide the right level of course.

Example:

Your target grades are: Eng. Lang 8, Eng. Lit 7, Maths 9, Chemistry 7, Physics 7, Biology 7, Art 7, French 7, PE 7, & History 9.

The total points for the ten subjects are (8+7+9+7+7+7+7+7+7+9) = 75.

Your average GCSE points score is 7.5 points and therefore you would be eligible for entry to Pathway 1 (the 3 A Level courses including separate science A Levels if you wish).

For all subjects, when making your selections please read the entry requirements relating to that subject very carefully.

NB: The pathways and grade thresholds which follow relate to entry into Year 12 and have been agreed within the BSV Education Trust as a fair and common basis for advice to our students. They are based on the study of several years of results in our schools and are designed to be inclusive and optimistic. They offer guidance for the appropriate pathway but are not guarantees of success.