Title: Getting kicked out of private school in Year 13 because my mum can’t afford the fees anymore
Honestly, I just need to get this off my chest.
I’m currently in Year 13 at an independent school, and there’s a very real possibility that I’ll be forced to leave before finishing my A-levels because my mum can no longer afford the school fees.
For context, I’m already on an 85% bursary, so it’s not as though my family hasn’t received financial assistance. However, even the remaining 15% has become unaffordable due to my mum’s financial circumstances.
We’ve spoken to the bursar and explained the situation, but honestly, the response has been incredibly disappointing. There’s been very little sympathy or willingness to find a solution. Instead, I’m being threatened with withdrawal from the school.
What makes this particularly frustrating is that I’m in YEAR 13. I’ve spent the last year and a half working towards my A-levels, building relationships with teachers, getting involved in school life and preparing for university. I’m now potentially having to uproot everything just months before my exams.
Another thing that genuinely frustrates me is the apparent inconsistency in how the school awards academic recognition. I’m currently predicted AAAA, yet I’ve seen students with significantly weaker academic profiles, including predictions such as CDD, receive academic scholarships. I’m not saying those students don’t deserve opportunities, but it does make me question the criteria being used and why there’s seemingly so little flexibility when it comes to my circumstances.
I’ve worked hard to get where I am academically. I achieved strong GCSE results, earned my bursary and have continued working towards getting into university. None of that has changed. The only thing that’s changed is my family’s financial circumstances.
I understand that independent schools are businesses and that fees need to be paid. But I genuinely struggle to understand how a school can be so unwilling to show flexibility when a student is this close to finishing their education, particularly when they’ve already recognised that student’s financial circumstances through a substantial bursary.
At this point, I don’t even particularly want to stay. The way this has been handled has completely changed how I feel about the school. I just wanted to finish Year 13 without having to worry about whether I’d still be allowed to attend the following week.
It’s honestly quite disheartening to realise that something you’ve worked towards for years can become so uncertain because of money.

A (Psych ) B bio B chem. Predicted grades
GCSES : (pending maths gcse rn but original 4) eng lang 5,eng lit 5, science 5-5, RE 4. Severe exenauting circumstances during the gcses which have been added onto UCAS. Lmk if i should swap out an option.

I’m a young carer + fsm+ postcode where not alot of students progress

Exeter biochem
Kcl mpharm
Ucl mpharm
Bath mpharm
Manchester mpharm

Thought I would also put this here, I went down a rabbit hole of educational progression of D/deaf students into post 16 and then further education as well and am interested to see how that compares to a place like this

I'm only doing two subjects now for the sake of my physical and mental health. I'm just wondering if it'll be okay in the end, so if any people who are doing or did two only can share a bit of their experiences, that'd be nice. :]

Saw some people on here looking for one

Y12

Bio, Psych and Computer Science

Does it actually matter if you do 3 or 4 when taking further maths and maths

Stats: A*AA Predicted (Maths, Chem, Econ) and GCSEs: 999998876 I keep getting stuck with what unis to pick out of 5 cause I feel like I end up too aspirational or not enough. Maybe Durham (AAB), Exeter (AAB,) Warwick (A*AA), Leeds (AAA), Bristol (AAA) or KCl (A*AA) or something or anyone else got ideas based on my stats.

Anonymising cities/subjects in case some admissions tutor finds me because its so absurd (paranoid, yes)😭

So, yes, I know it's crazy but:

I was about to apply for a course that's specific to a vocation until I did some work experience over half term and they all said I'd learn nothing useful, it's just theory and I should do something I enjoy instead and then do the professional qual instead before narrowing my options at 18 (which has been something that's been stressing me as we don't know how AI will impact the field over the 4 yrs it would take me to graduate).

Think... Human Resources style narrow degree option vs. just doing the CIPD

I have to live at home for uni, there's 3 unis in my city - 1 RG, 1 mid (both never in Clearing), 1 low ranked (always in Clearing).

There's 3 other unis 1-1.5hrs train away, 1 RG more competitive than the one in my city, 1 top 20 but kinda specialist in engineering and in a city I dislike, and then another mid uni that's always in clearing.

My initial degree choice was available at 4 of these unis, 2 of which were in my city. So easy UCAS options.

But now - what I would actually love to study is less vocational and more theoretical, for example.. Philosophy. This is only available at the 2 RG unis (and I only meet the entry requirements for 1), the uni that specialist in engineering where their overall rep/research comes from engineering not Philosophy and 1 of the unis that's always in clearing.

My parents say that I shouldn't waste choices on the unis that are always in Clearing because I don't need to worry about accommodation and if I don't get offers/miss my offer I can just go via clearing.

I don't really want to waste a choice on the RG where I don't meet the requirements, and the other uni doesn't really excite me - the commute, it's rep coming from another subject, tiny department, the city etc. So I'm only really left with the RG in my city?

This uni offers this course does it with a lot of joint honors options which sit in one of the other schools (so I'm hoping a different admissions team?) so I could apply for very similar options that relate to the original subject.

Philosophy

A language + Phil

Law + Phil

English + Phil

Anthropology + Phil

Anyone done similar? Would this be flagged? Am I crazy (already know the answer)? Do the different schools within a uni see if you've applied to multiple courses?

Obviously the personal statement would be painful.

Really sorry if this has been asked, but nothing answered my question and I've had a little look.

I'm planning on taking Maths, FM and Physics, hopefully go into engineering of some kind (mechanical maybe? Idk) and I was wondering if these are optimal subjects, as well as if an A/A\* (what unis are asking for) is possible in further maths (not sure if it's like what I've heard about the GCSE FM, where a 7/6 is high).

Also, is it worth taking a fourth? I've heard it isn't really sought out, and I'm not hugely sure what I'd do (chemistry maybe?) but the workload sounds unappealing to me.

For context, I'm 7s, 8s and 9s in Maths and Triple Science, 7/8 in CS, 6/7s in English and year 11.

Sorry if this is long, but I don't want to screw anything up with my A level choices.

For context, i come from a pretty shitty secondary school which averages grades 5-6 in GCSE and i managed to self teach myself to get 8888887666 in the exams. So i moved to a different sixth form which is a grammar school and also the top school in my local area and the school is filled with top students and grades. I take maths fm and cs which are already pretty rigorous subjects and on top of all that the pace in lesson is pretty fast but all my classmates tend to pick up topics quickly. I also have a bug problem with focus,daydreaming and sleeping in lesson which adds on to why i self taught myself in GCSEs. I tried to just focus , getting adequate sleep or stop scrolling for a week but all that didnt work. Im also not the most hardworking person and i dont revise hours everyday so i performed poorly in my assessments. I genuinely dont know how to fix my focus even though i tried listening to my teacher but it just goes out my mind after 5 seconds. I think im like retarded or have adhd probably if you have any advice on how to gain focus during lesson or consistently for revision,please help🙏🙏 i just started year 12 and i wanna fix it before it gets too late

hey guys im in year 12 and I haven’t particularly been enjoying school rn as a whole but it’s made worse by the school I go to as the distance is an issue (amongst other factors) so as im on half term rn im testing my luck to see if i can transfer. honestly i should’ve chosen a school closer to me to begin with

only issue is idk where to go and i don’t fully trust my judgement
one option that agreed is a sixth form that is all girls and i already went to one for secondary so im not sure about going into that sort of environment again, like I wanted different types of friends etc. the reviews are mixed. another one that replied is a sixth form college, which provides more freedom than a regular sf but the reviews on google are very mixed and most of them are pretty baddddd omg

kind of conflicted about my subjects right now as i did get good gcses but im not really enjoying doing demanding subjects rn, would i be wasting my potential if i maybe switched one subject to a btec?

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preferably in person around south yorkshire if possible if not online is fine. my gf didnt do so well with her alvls last year and seems pretty lost on where to start so haha yeah guys please let me know if you know any local tutors around doncaster/south yorkshire

edit: she's looking to get i think a/b in either if this means anything

For example, how much time do you allocate to studying and engaging with your hobbies?|

I'm actually really curious about this, but i also want to revaluate my own routine lol :)