ADAM LEY-LANGE...

QUESTION 01
What were your reasons for joining the Sixth Form?
I think I joined 6th form due to a combination of parental pressure (my parents would have killed me if I hadn't) and the idea that I needed to get good grades to get a decent job. Also, most of my friends stayed on.

QUESTION 02
What are your favourite memories from being a member of the Sixth Form?
My favourite memories probably come from the social side of being a sixth former: the battles over the music that went on the stereo at break and lunch, the (slightly) more relaxed attitude of staff towards the students (I was treated a bit more like an adult). Don't get me wrong, the teacher/student divide was still fairly wide, as was shown by some disagreements we had over various things about the way 6th form was run. But I'm sure I was treated better than if I had left school at 16 and gone straight into a job. In a lot of jobs, I'd have just been "the kid who dropped out of school", and treated like an idiot.

QUESTION 03
What subjects did you study in the Sixth Form and what grades did you achieve?
A Levels: History - A. Biology - B. Psychology - A. English Language - A.
AS Levels: General Studies - A.

QUESTION 04
What did you do on leaving the Sixth Form?
On leaving 6th form I went to Edinburgh University to study history. I wish I had taken a gap year.

QUESTION 05
Could you describe the job that you are doing now? What impact did your Year 12/13 grades have on this choice of career?
I work as a warden in temporary accommodation for the homeless. It involves cleaning rooms and dealing with high risk clients, eg/ drug users, alcoholics, victims of various forms of abuses etc. I'm not sure that the grades I got had any particular relevance to what I'm doing, but it obviously looks good in an interview. I guess it shows that you can learn information and skills to a decent standard, which any employer obviously values. The job I have isn't one I want to stay in for a long time, so having the grades from 6th form means I will have more choice of jobs once I start looking for another.

QUESTION 06
What life-skills did you develop in the Sixth Form that you have used in your choice of career?
The life skills I developed in 6th form are a lot more important than the grades I got for the job. I am doing now, but I needed the grades to get to university, where I developed more life skills, so the grades and the skills really go hand in hand. I learned different studying habits, which helped at uni, and I also probably learned to think for myself more, which the teachers viewed as a bit of a mixed blessing.

QUESTION 07
What would you say to a student that is undecided about joining the Sixth Form?
There is no right way of doing things. It's possible you could achieve whatever you wanted without going to sixth form. If you are offered an amazing opportunity instead of 6th form, then take it. But otherwise, it doesn't do any harm to stay on. Any qualification is better than none when looking for a job. I can only really tell you that I don't regret going to 6th form, and that I don't know many people who do regret it. I can tell you that I am very glad that I went to sixth form, and my life would have been a lot poorer if I hadn't.