Course Choices and Waiting Lists – FAQ 

You may have requested a course change and been told that was now on your programme of study. At enrolment, you have been told you are on the waiting list and need to choose a backup course. 

The information below will help you understand the situation and what happens next. 

 

Why are there course waiting lists? 

At BHASVIC, each year we need to run waiting lists for certain courses which are oversubscribed. Our main priority, as a college, is to do everything possible to enable all our students to study the courses they most want to study. When students are on their optimal courses, everyone benefits.

We will be working very hard to aim to have as many students as possible on their chosen courses.

We can never guarantee a course to a student. This is a standard feature of sixth form education across the country, because in sixth form there are several factors which make planning curriculum (student numbers, courses places, teachers, rooms) very precisely almost impossible. 
The variables are: 

1. Students applying to more than one institution and therefore some uncertainty about which students are going to enrol at the college and on which courses.
2. Course choices being difficult and students naturally needing to change course throughout the admissions journey.
3. Level 3 courses having entry requirements and students sometimes not gaining the GCSE grades and needing to choose alternative courses/study programmes.
4. Students changing course once they have started.

It is commonplace for sixth form providers to run waiting lists because there is a limit to the numbers of rooms and staffing. Providers plan and predict carefully, but it is not possible to be perfectly accurate about student choices and changes. We are very good at this at BHASVIC and have had very limited waiting lists, but it is becoming more challenging as students change behaviours at scale. We believe the main change is that there is an increase in students who have applied to both BHASVIC and Varndean, leaving us with higher numbers of students “on the books” and less certainty about who will come through the door. 

 

What do we do when a course is oversubscribed? 

The order of priority of place on a course is mainly by chronology: 

1. Agreed the course at interview.
2. Requested to change onto the course after interview.
3. Requesting the course change on Moving On Day in July.
4. Requesting a course change due to GCSE results.
5. Requesting the course change at Enrolment.
6. Requesting the course change once timetable has started. 

At any stage in this process, we may have made a post-interview course change for a student. If, however, the course is oversubscribed (because more students than expected have accepted their place, or attended Moving On Day), we may need to remove that course change and add the student instead to the Waiting List for that course. 

This situation is immutable and we cannot change it – we simply cannot add every student onto a course who wants a place, if the course is oversubscribed. This is something that no-one likes, but it is not something that is possible to change. 

 

What does BHASVIC do to try to get every student on their chosen course? 

After we have completed enrolment, we rebalance all our course numbers. This frequently removes large chunks of the course waiting lists.

If we still have waiting lists, then first we try to recruit more teaching and run more groups for that subject.

If we still have waiting lists, we then reduce these through the September and October Course Change window. This is where students at BHASVIC come to the Help Desk and ask to change off a course. Every time that happens, someone on the waiting list goes onto the course. 

 

I am on a waiting list – what happens next? 

We will try to add you to the course before Welcome Day (Monday 7th September). We will have completed all our enrolments and balanced courses.

In the first few days after lessons have started our Information team will send you a Teams Chat to notify you of a change of course onto your Waiting List course. Your timetable will also change.

After the first week of lessons has passed, our Information Team will usually contact you before making changes to check that you still want to make us to make the change. We will not make the change until you respond. 

 

Can I contact the college to request priority on the course (jump the waiting list queue)? 

We cannot do this. We need to add students to the course spaces that become available in a fair and transparent way, and chronology is the method we use. We cannot accept extenuating personal circumstances as criteria, because in these situations, the college would become overwhelmed with an impossible set of decisions to make, and such a system is very open to unfairness. In this situation, everyone is equal and we will apply places according to date. 

 

What happens if my waiting list place becomes available? When will I know if I have gained a place on my waiting list course?  

Your timetable will immediately change, and the course will appear on your timetable. The course you were on, which is not your first choice, will disappear from your timetable.

You should follow that new timetable. Your teacher will know and you will appear on their class register. The teacher will guide you on catch-up or settling-in tasks to help you transition smoothly to your course, which will have had a slightly later start than others. 

 

Can I see if I am on the waiting list for a course, and what my position is?  
(also, am I able to get a sense of how likely it is that I will gain a place on the course?) 

You will be able to login to the BHASVIC system (called Cedar) and see if you are on the waiting list for a course, after Welcome Day. We will be providing students with information on how to do this. The information will not show position and length of the Waiting List. 

 

What can I do if I want to change a course? 

You can come to the Help Desk which runs every day onsite from Monday 7th September (Welcome Day). An advisor will be able to help you make course change decisions or reassure you about the courses you are on.

 

What about if I want to come off a waiting list, for another course or to stay on my current course? 

You MUST notify someone at the Help Desk as soon as you realise this, otherwise your place on your current course may be replaced by another student when you are moved to the waiting list course. 

 

What about the Starting With Confidence Summer work? 

We recognise that it is not reasonable to expect students to complete a wide array of this work for all courses and eventualities. The Starting With Confidence work is designed to help students with their decision-making, and not having completed the work does not disadvantage a student in starting that course. Therefore, our advice is to take a look at the work for the courses you are on waiting lists for, but you are not required to complete the work. It is advisable to start and try the summer work for the course you are actually on, even if you may get a place on your waiting list preference. This is all good study practice, and it would not be a waste of your time.