College Headaches!

Decisions, decisions! I am a busy mother whose daughter has just entered Year 11 at Brookfield School. With this being her final year at school, our thoughts lie to the future and to which college would be beneficial for her needs. I must say it is a bit of a nightmare.

 With all the local colleges – Fareham, Itchen, St Vincents and Barton Peveril saying that their results have increased in the last year, it doesn’t make it any easier.  Fortunately she is both academic and ambitious, and with predicted grades all being A*’s and A’s, she does have the choice of where to go.

With college lecturers attending her PSE classes at school, all of whom are making a fantastic job of marketing their own colleges; it only seems to lead to confusion. My daughter is now thinking about colleges that she has never considered before. Only this week she had a visit from lecturers/marketing managers from both Barton Peveril College and St Vincents, the latter seemed to make a big impression on her.

As a fussy parent (not a pushy one) I must admit my heart sank a little when she said how impressed she was with the talk from the St Vincents' chap and equally how unimpressed she was with the chat from the woman from Barton Peveril. We all want what is best for our little darlings, but we have to think about not only what is the most practical, but also what the best is; with not only the results being important, but also where the results come from when it comes to University places.

With most colleges offering “gateway” groups for students wishing to carry on their education at a top university; and all of them offering the type of A Level course she would like to do, it doesn’t make the choice any easier.  So October will be a busy month for us – visiting all the colleges open days.