How to join STAGS Sixth

STAGS Sixth is a mixed Sixth Form with a vibrant and welcoming community. We are able to offer the full breadth of A Level qualifications to meet the needs and interests of our students. 

There are many opportunities for our students to develop their employability and life skills through our comprehensive enrichment programme. 

Sixth Form students play a full role in the life of our school through the extensive range of leadership opportunities that we offer. 

We provide comprehensive support to students in their planning for the next stage in life, Post 18, whether that be to university, apprenticeships or employment. Take a look at our Sixth Form Open Evening presentation and Information Event document here. 

 

To apply to STAGS Sixth, click on the link below and fill out the application form: 

STAGS Sixth Application Form

 

 

 

Letter to Parents/Carers - Sixth Form Open Evening 2024

Open Evening Presentation 2024

 

Consortium Students

STAGS Sixth Form is part of the ALPS - Alban Learning Partners, consortium with Loreto College, Marlborough Science Academy, Nicholas Breakspear School, Samuel Ryder Academy and Townsend Church of England School. 

The Alban Learning Partners was formed in order to provide students with:

• A wider range of courses
• Access to better facilities and resources including some very specialised facilities
• Access to a wider range of expertise and support

We welcome many students from our Consortium partners to our co-educational Sixth Form to study A-Levels in a range of subjects.  STAGS students also have the opportunity to study one of their Level 3 qualifications at a partner school. The partnership benefits the schools themselves as it helps to ensure that we are continually driving up standards and results. 

For more information, view our website below:

Alban Learning Partners Website

The Benefits of Consorting between STAGS and Samuel Ryder Academy

I consort from STAGS to Samuel Ryder in order to do one of my A-level subjects, Media Studies. This means that I travel to Samuel Ryder, three days a week when I have lessons. This transportation is facilitated by the school during the allocated times. I really enjoy consorting as it allows me to take all the subjects that I wanted to take without having to sacrifice my home school, STAGS. I’ve also been able to meet lots of new people and I think that both my teachers at STAGS and SRA have been brilliant at introducing this concept to me and have been flexible if I’ve missed a couple of minutes of the lesson due to traffic. I have a school log-in at SRA and am considered as a Samuel Ryder student when I am there. Before learning more about consorting, I was worried that being at another school for one of my subjects would mean I wouldn’t be considered as a proper STAGS student, but that couldn’t be further from the truth! Due to the flexibility of STAGS Sixth, I’ve been able to be involved in extracurricular activities, be part of the student leadership team and still be a full time STAGS student. I would strongly recommend consorting if the subject you want to do isn’t available at STAGS.

Current Sixth Form Student

 Entrance Requirements

Admission to STAGS Sixth Form is by online application form. Deadlines for all applications are as follows:
STAGS students: 6 January 2025
External students: 21 March 2025

Click here to access the Application Form

We are proud to offer a wide range of challenging and highly accredited subjects at Sixth Form.

Curriculum Entry Requirements - A Levels 2024
Minimum academic entry requirements to study A Levels are to have achieved at least 40 GCSE points, calculated as follows, from a student’s best 8 GCSE results:

Grade 9 = 9 points, Grade 8 = 8 points, Grade 7 = 7 points, Grade 6 = 6 points, Grade 5 = 5 points, etc
(see individual subject requirements for entry requirement grades to study A Level and BTECs in our prospectus)

 

(The availability of courses will depend on student demand, staffing and timetabling constraints)

 External Students

We welcome applications from new students to our school. STAGS Sixth is a welcoming environment and our new students quickly settle in, reaching their potential and becoming actively involved in our community. 

Open Mornings have now closed. Please contact us at STAGS Sixth Form if you require any further information. 

For more information and to make an initial application, please fill out our Application Form.

We have been able to use our voices to make change.
Sixth Form Student

Sixth Form Open Evening Event

Information Event Presentation
Hear from our Headteacher, Head of Sixth Form Team and Student Leaders, and learn more about individual subjects and life in the Sixth Form. 

External Students
If you would like to register your interest, please email STAGS Sixth Form and someone from our Sixth Form Team will contact you or alternatively complete the online Application Form.

Open Morning
Please contact STAGS Sixth Form for further information. 

Year 12 Information Evening 2024

Year 13 Information Evening 2024

Open Evening Presentation 2024

Letter to Parents/Carers - Sixth Form Open Evening 2024

 

Funding

Use of additional 40 hours at 16-19

Qualification time:

All courses where there are more than 10 students in the group have 9 hours teaching across a two week period. This results in an increase in both contact time and mentoring for students. 

Year 12 students enjoy a range of enrichment activities. Many students complete 2 hours of these activities a week with many of the enrichment activities culminating in a Level 2 qualification. The choices available to our students range from:

• Debating
• Sports Award 
• Arts Award 
• Food Skills
• Young Enterprise
• CISI Finance
• Biology outside the classroom
• Music Jam 

Students are offered the opportunity to take up the Extended Project Qualification which allows them to develop their own research project resulting in a Level 3 qualification at the end of the course. 

Sixth Form students also undertake an additional 4 hours supported study in the Sixth Form each week. The students are encouraged to complete any “Study Time” tasks set by their teacher or the Sixth Form team during this time. 

Sixth Form students spend time working on their leadership roles where all year 12 students become a prefect for the wider school community. Sixth Form students play an integral role in the House system for all students across the school supporting charity fairs, sports day, assemblies and the creation of form time activities. 

Sixth Form students are offered subject support in all of their subjects which run either at lunchtime or after school where the content is varied depending on the student's need. These sessions are utilised to build study skills, exam technique and academic resilience through small group guided activities and reflection opportunities. 

All Sixth Form students take part in the Next Steps event that spans over three days, this is a bespoke opportunity where students visit the UCAS fair at a local University as well as attending workshops, seminars and lectures in school for study skills, next steps, apprenticeships and career guidance. 

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Mental Health and Wellbeing:

Sixth Form students attend 1 hour a week of Step-Up each week. The Step Up programme at Sixth Form is an hour timetabled lesson each week for year 12 and 13, where students embed & develop their PSHE learning into Key Stage 5 ready for the wider world. The curriculum revolves around Wellbeing & Personal Awareness, Study Skills, VESPA and Next Steps. The curriculum for Step-Up allows students a safe space to discuss key RSE topics with experienced teachers to support them, alongside this students attend the Speak your Mind debate at St Albans Cathedral focusing on religious and political debate. 

Sixth Form students will attend the two STAGS personal development days that are focused on mental health and wellbeing and equality, diversity and inclusivity. These days are bespoke to the needs of our students allowing time to focus on positive wellbeing activities, support for mental health, developing resilience as well as fun activities to focus the mind!

Sixth Form students attend a 20 minute form time each day, and this follows the schedule below:

Additional time is used for students to access crucial one to one pastoral and educational support through the pastoral structure. The time enables the – already regular – one to one meetings to cover more topics and be more in depth in their approach.

For some students time will also be used for students to gain support from a trained mental health specialist where appropriate.

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Prioritise Maths:

We continue to prioritise maths and extra contact time is given where students have not achieved a grade 4 at GCSE.

Core Maths is offered as a level 3 qualification for Sixth Form students, where they study 2 hours per week throughout their time in Sixth Form focusing on numeracy skills.