City of Bristol College Year 11 Information for Next Year

1 April 2020
Jon Angell
Principal
City Academy Bristol

Sent by Email

Dear Jon,

RE: Impact of the coronavirus on admissions for 2020/2021

I am writing to inform you about arrangements we are making with regards to admissions to City of Bristol College for the academic year 2020/21.

With no public exams being held this summer, and with the health emergency likely to continue for most of the rest of this academic year, we are adopting an approach aimed at reducing anxiety, getting rid of unnecessary practical barriers, and being as inclusive as possible to those pupils wanting to progress to any of our courses.

New applicants

Our admissions system for the next academic year remains open at www.cityofbristol.ac.uk/courses. It is not too late to make an application to join us this September.

All new applicants for a full-time course starting this September will be guaranteed a place at City of Bristol College.

Due to the uncertainty of knowing when the college will be able to re-open again, we may need to contact applicants by phone, text or email to arrange for online or telephone assessment of their calculated grades and prior attainment, to establish their suitability for the course they have applied for, and to ensure that they are joining our college at the right level of study. This process may also involve a short English and/or maths assessment; if so, we will guide them through it every step of the way.

Pupils awaiting interviews

Due to the current situation, we are suspending all face-to-face interviews until further notice. The same procedures as described above will apply to all existing applicants. We have started the process of communicating this change to them already.

Pupils with an existing offer

Applicants with existing offers continue to be guaranteed a place at City of Bristol College for this September. We will write to them in the summer to give them information about their enrolment at which time we will review their calculated grades and prior attainment, to ensure they are enrolled at the right course level. Their enrolment may also involve a short English and/or maths assessment.

Applicants with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

We have already begun to receive applications from pupils with EHCPs who have had their Year 11 annual review. We will shortly write to your SENDCO separately with details on how we can further support the admissions process for potential applicants, including those who haven’t yet had their annual review. In the meantime, it is important that pupils disclose their additional learning needs at the application stage.

Specific pupils

If you are concerned about career goals of specific pupils or the fact that they have not yet made a course application, please contact our admissions team to discuss ways in which we may be able to support them. We want to ensure that every pupil who is in their final year of study in your school has an appropriate course application in place before they leave. We expect to have our usual range of hundreds of courses to choose from next year and regardless of your pupils’ calculated grades, there should be a suitable course available for them at our college.

I would be grateful if you could share the contents of this letter with pupils, their parents and your key staff.

Please contact us as follows:

Live chat (at www.cityofbristol.ac.uk): Monday to Friday, 8.30am – 5pm
General enquiries: [email protected]
Admissions enquiries: [email protected]

May I wish you, your pupils and staff the very best in the next few weeks. We will continue doing our best to support your school and pupils through this period of change and beyond.

Yours sincerely,
Andy Forbes
Principal and Chief Executive