Dear Redcliffe 6th Form applicants,

The step from GCSE to A Level is a large one, and when you are spending your week studying only three or four subjects it is important that you know you will enjoy them and that they will be what you expect. Hopefully, the Induction Day sessions gave you some reassurance, but these will not have been the same as the experience of actually doing your own independent work in the subject. We have therefore provided some transition tasks which we would like you to complete before the start of term in September.

Complete the task for each subject you are planning to study next year. In most cases, these include a short core task which you will be asked to bring in to lessons with you at the start of the year and which may be marked or discussed. In addition, where the subject has been studied at GCSE, it may direct you to revise some aspects of your GCSE material in order to make sure that you are confident in the material which forms the foundations of the A Level. Beyond that, all subjects will have suggested things you could do or resources you could use in order to build up your understanding of and enthusiasm for your chosen subjects and be confident that you have chosen the right ones.

If you become unsure whether you have chosen the right subjects, then you may want to look at the transition work for some alternatives and should then contact the 6th form to suggest a swap if you wish to do this, but it may be worth waiting until you have your GCSE results before you finally decide this.

In the case of Maths and the Sciences, there is a big step from GCSE to A Level, and it is very important that the Higher Tier material from GCSE is secure if you are going to cope well with the early A Level material. The transition task, therefore, provides a way for you to work out where your strengths and weaknesses are and to get on top of this GCSE material. Some students will therefore need to spend longer on it than others.

For those of you who do not achieve a sufficiently high grade in Maths or the Sciences to access these particular A Levels we will be providing you with an opportunity to sit a one-hour aptitude test on Thursday 29 August at 10am, on the basis of which we can decide whether you have the understanding and skills needed for the A Level. The content which may be covered in this test is made clear in the transition task document.

Remember when you get your GCSE results you need to enrol. You do this online by logging back in to the site you used for applications, which is Applicaa ( https://smrt.applicaa.com/year12 ) which will have a new ‘Enrolment’ option. Through Applicaa you will be able to tell us your GCSE results, confirm you are coming and request any further changes to your programme. Remember there is an option to re-set your password if you have forgotten it. You can enrol from 12:30pm on Thursday 22 August and this closes at 5:00pm on Sunday 25 August. Please note if you don't enrol on Applicaa by 5:00pm on Sunday 25 August then we will have to reallocate your place to someone else. 

Following the completion of the form, if you need a fuller discussion about your options, you are welcome to come in to the 6th Form Centre on Thursday 29 August between 10:00am and 1:00pm. We will take people in order of arrival, so do bring a book in case you have to wait.

All students with a confirmed place should then report to the 6th Form Centre by 9:00am on Tuesday 3 September to complete their enrolment. You will be with us for a maximum of three hours. The following day you must be in the 6th Form centre by 8.15am to check your tutor group allocation, ready to collect your timetable from your tutor at 8.30am and start lessons at 9:00am.

Below you will find the transition tasks for 2024 entrants. We hope you enjoy them.