Admissions
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
LaSWAP is open to all sixth form students who meet the specified entry requirements for the courses on offer. These are outlined on the LaSWAP website under entry requirements.
Entry requirements for each level of course, together with any variations relating to each specific course, are published annually on the website in October, with final updates in the March of the admissions year. All students must have passed English or maths GCSE at grade 4 or above, or be enrolled on an appropriate course leading to this. There are no exceptions to this.
Where we have more applicants meeting the entry requirements than places, places will be allocated according to the criteria shown in our Admissions Policy.
A student who has been permanently excluded from one of the 4 LaSWAP schools cannot be enrolled at LaSWAP, unless a risk assessment concludes that this will be safe.
STUDENTS WITH INTERNATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
You must provide official evidence that your qualifications are an equivalent level to GCSE before you can enrol at LaSWAP. Please note that this may take several weeks.
NARIC is the National Agency responsible for providing information and expert opinion on academic qualifications from overseas. We require such information from UK ENIC in order to establish equivalency of overseas qualifications. It is the responsibility of students applying to provide this information. Please visit their website (click button below) as soon as possible for further information.
UK National Information Centre for global qualifications and skills
CONVERTING A LASWAP OFFER TO A LASWAP PLACE
Final offers of a place at LaSWAP for all students will be conditional on satisfactory completion of the summer assignment(s) where appropriate and GCSE results, attendance at pre-course interview in late August/early September, and signing up to the LaSWAP Learner’s Agreement.
Following receipt of GCSE results, students holding conditional offers will be invited to enrolment for further discussion with a teacher/tutor and places on specific courses confirmed or otherwise. Students will be allocated to sets on each course with a view to achieving balanced sets.
INDUCTION
All enrolled students will have to show the right level of commitment to sixth form study to successfully pass our induction period held during September. All students will sign their Learner Agreement at enrolment. Students and parents will be kept fully informed where there is evidence for concern.Learner Agreement
TRANSITION FROM YEAR 12 TO YEAR 13
Where students are accepted onto two year courses, teaching for the length of the course will be provided in LaSWAP, however, teaching groups may be re-timetabled between schools to ensure specialist teaching is always provided. Transition across years is not automatic and is dependent on meeting the entry criteria relevant to the student’s study programme as below. Support and guidance will be available for any student who does not qualify to return for a second year of study.
ATTENDANCE
For all programmes, a satisfactory level of attendance to achieve success in the next year, taking into account a student’s personal circumstance, must have been achieved for automatic progression. The procedures for a student with below satisfactory attendance are attached to the LaSWAP Attendance Policy.
REQUESTS TO REPEAT AN ACADEMIC YEAR
We do not offer places for re-sit and re-take years. Re-sit and re-take years are not funded by the ESFA. As a comprehensive and inclusive Sixth Form, we have always sought to support vulnerable students and we will consider requests for exceptions to this where we have evidence of genuine extenuating circumstances which have affected a student’s ability to achieve – these are described by the ESFA as “exceptional circumstances outside the control of the student or institution”. Provided that the exceptional circumstances no longer persist, such requests will be referred to the Director of Sixth Form, whose decision will be final. Where requests are granted, an application should be made following the same process as all applicants.
Our admissions policy is subject to change in line with any relevant new DfE regulations and conditions of funding.