Perceived advantages of the two-year programme

• The major advantage is that there is no difficulty in continuing teaching and learning after the AS examinations – students embark on the A2 material in their three A level subjects. The college has a formal ‘back to work’ day, when normal teaching resumes at the end of the summer examination session.
• Most students (more than 90 per cent), know which subjects to drop after examinations in June of first year advanced level because they made the decision at the beginning of the year.
• Since the second year advanced level is not a new course and the basic pattern is fixed, administration, enrolment and timetabling are more straightforward.
• Because one subject studied in the first year advanced level is identified as a broadening AS subject, students’ performance in it can be tracked and compared with their other AS results. Esher College has found that there is a 91 per cent retention rate in the broadening AS subject, compared with 95 per cent in other AS subjects.
• Because students know which subjects they are going to take to full A level, they know which subjects to prioritise. Esher College students typically get grades A and B in their full A level subjects, and C and D in their broadening AS subjects. The lower grades in the broadening AS subjects may reflect less ability or interest in the subjects, as well as their lower priority.

Potential disadvantages of the two-year programme

• This interpretation of Curriculum 2000 appears to offer students less flexibility. Fewer than 10 per cent of each student cohort changed their minds about their second year advanced level subjects. The college finds that those with lower average GCSE point scores are more likely to change route.
• Having committed themselves to three A level subjects at the outset, students must be less likely to consider alternatives for the second year advanced level, particularly as the college assumes that they will continue with their original choices.
• While Esher College does not offer at enrolment programmes of two A and two AS levels, some students’ programmes do evolve in this way (although not as many as in some sixth form colleges). Most students from the college progress to higher education courses that have entry requirements of three or more A levels.