Church explains entry requirements for Sixth Form courses

Entry into Church School Sixth Forms for the coming scholastic year 2020/21 will retain the same principles used in previous years de spite the difficulties created by the effects of the Covid 19 pan demic.

De La Salle College and St Aloysius College Sixth Forms, as well as the Secretariat for Catholic Education, have worked closely together, to ensure that the same basic entry criterion that has always been used to fill the limited number of places available is retained. In this respect, the selection process to enter Church School Sixth Forms will continue to be based on academic merit as in previous years.

Owing to the current circumstances, the entry system cannot be based on standardised examination results as usual, since these are not available due to the postponement of the SEC May examination session. However, after lengthy discussions with a team of experts, an entry system has been decided upon and this will ensure that selection will nevertheless be fair and transparent.

The process which will be used is based on the following key prin ciples:

1. Since applicants have not sat for SEC or IGCSE exams in April/May 2020, the applicants’ verified school mock examina tion results will be considered. These are the results that the ap plicants’ respective schools sent to MATSEC as part of the calibration exercise being undertaken by MATSEC.

2. In the case of schools, where the mock examination in a subject/s, or part of it, was not held because of schools closure, the mark assigned by the school in the SSC&P Secondary School Certifi cate and Profile will be considered, on condition that applicants obtained an MQF level 3 in the relevant SSC&P subject.

3. Prior to applying at De La Salle College and St Aloysius College Sixth Forms, in July, applicants will need to apply for what is known as the Assessment Statement for Entry into Church Sixth Forms.

4. This statement will be issued for each applicant by the Secretariat for Catholic Education and the two Sixth Forms jointly and will i include the list of subjects that the applicant sat for in his/her mock examinations at school and, ii assign ‘bands’ to each of these subjects at paper 2A or 2B level, according to the verified mock examination results that the schools sent to MATSEC. Each subject at Paper 2A level will be assigned band A, band B, band C or band D1, whilst each subject at Paper 2B level will be as signed band D2.

5. The bands correspond to the average percentages obtained for each grade at SEC level in 2017, 2018 and 2019 based on MAT SEC statistical reports for each subject in every sector, that is, State, Church, Independent and Gozo schools.

6. Band A will be assigned to the top percentage of students in each school according to the average percentage of Grade 1 achieved in each subject within the school sector each school belongs to. In the same manner, Band B corresponds to Grade 2, Band C corre sponds to Grade 3, and Band D1 corresponds to other grades for students who would have achieved MQF level 3.

7. Specific provisions have been made for subjects where a small number of students sat for SEC examinations as well as for VET subjects.

8. If applicants were absent for the mock examinations held in their school, no bands will be awarded for the subject/s concerned. The application process consists of two phases.

Phase 1: Applicants who are interested in applying at De La Salle College Sixth Form and/or at St Aloysius College Sixth Form need to obtain the Assessment Statement for Entry into Church Sixth Forms in order to apply for the 2nd phase in August. Students are to apply for this statement by clicking on the link found at https://www.delasallemalta.org/sixthform/ or http://www.sain taloysius.edu.mt/ between midnight of the 6 July and 11:59pm of 10 July at a fee of €5. Late applications for this statement may also be submitted between midnight of 16 July and 11:59pm of 17 July at a fee of €10. This statement will be sent to those who apply for it before the start of Phase 2 and will then be used by the applicant when applying.

Phase 2. Phase 2: This phase will take place in August.

Applicants will fill in and submit online application forms at De la Salle College and/ or St Aloysius College via https://www.de lasallemalta.org/sixthform/ in the case of De La Salle College Sixth Form and http://www.saintaloysius.edu.mt/ in the case of St Aloy sius College Sixth Form. Information regarding dates of applica tion and other matters will be available on the website of each college. A detailed explanation of the process being used this year, together with relevant rules and regulations, will also be avail able on the respective websites.