North Oxfordshire Academy > Sixth Form

If you couldn't make our sixth form open evening, here is everything you need to know!

Entry requirements

Courses offered at North Oxfordshire Academy (NOA) Sixth Form require students to achieve a minimum of five 9-5 in their GCSEs including English and Maths. Students wishing to pursue vocational courses (BTEC and OCR) also require a minimum of a Merit grade in that subject at level 2.

To study at A Level:

You will need 5 GCSE’s Grade 5 or above including English and Maths
Students will need to achieve specific grade for some courses (see table below)
Students who do not achieve a 4 grade in English and Maths GCSE will not be accepted onto courses; we do not offer Level 2 English or Maths GCSE in sixth form

Sixth Form Application Form

Sixth Form Prospectus 2024-25

Specific course entry requirements: September 2025

*Subject*	*Minimum Entry Requirement*
Art	6 in Art, demonstrable ability will be considered if not studied at GCSE
Biology	7 in Biology (or 7-7 in Combined Science) & 6 in Maths
Chemistry	7 in Chemistry (or a 7-7 in Combined-Science) & 6 in Maths
Computer Science	6 in Maths and 6-6 in Science or 6 in Physics
English Language	6 in English Language and/or Literature
English Literature	6 in English Literature
French/Spanish	6 in French/Spanish
Further Maths	9 in Maths
Geography	6 in Geography (if taken) or 6 in English or 6 in another humanities subject
History	6 in History (if taken) or 6 in English or another humanities subject
Maths	7 in Maths
Politics	5 or above in English Language/Literature and a Humanities subject
Physics	7 in Physics (or 7-7 Combined-Science) and 7 in Maths
Psychology	6 in English Language/Literature, 6 in Maths and 6-6 in Science or 6 in Biology
Sociology	6 in English and 5 in Humanities subject (if taken)
EPQ	5 GCSE’s grade 5 or above including English at grade 6.

We do not run level 2 courses at the academy and students must demonstrate they can access Level 3 programme, which are evidenced through them meeting their conditional offer (entry requirements).

Level 3 vocational General Requirements:

To study a vocational level 3, you will need a minimum of 5 GCSE’s grade 5 or equivalent including English and Maths. In addition, some subjects require specific grades as provided below:

Subject	Entry Requirement
CTEC Business	L2M (if studied at Level 2) plus/or 5 in Maths and English
BTEC Engineering	L2M (if studied at Level 2) plus a 6 in Maths
BTEC Health and Social Care	L2M (if studied at Level 2) plus a 5-5 in Science and English
BTEC Sport	L2M (if studied at Level 2) plus a 6 in Biology or 6-6 in double science and 5 in English
BTEC Music	Grade 6 in Music GCSE at Level 2 M or alternative evidence of demonstrable ability if not already studied.

Application process

Applications will be made available online through the sixth form website but can also be made via post or email. Once we have received your application, a member of the sixth form team will be in touch to arrange an interview. At the interview, we will discuss our courses and pathways available with some guidance given on subjects for university courses and apprenticeships. It is important that parents are part of this discussion, so we ask parents to attend all sixth form interviews.

Following the interview, we will make a personalised conditional offer and students will be required to attend a sixth form induction day in June.

Students will need to obtain the results outlined in their offer - students can accept their place on GCSE results day in August as long as they have met their conditional offer. Where a student may not have fully met their offer, we may still be able to offer them a place but there will need to be some adjustments made to the courses they wish to study. Once a student has accepted their place, they will start in September.

External Applications

We welcome applications from students who attend other schools and are delighted we are your first choice of sixth form for your next pathway. All external applications require a reference from a Head of Year or Pastoral Leader from their current school and their details will need to be given on the initial application.

Students who apply from another school will need to have a reference completed before they are invited to interview.

Applying for a Place