At CBSC, Sixth Form is more than an academic qualification — it is a two-year apprenticeship in professionalism. From the moment students join us, every aspect of their experience is designed to build the habits, conduct and character that employers, universities and colleges expect. This is not a single policy or a single lesson: it is a golden thread that runs through everything we do.

We make this commitment explicit, because we believe students deserve to know why we ask what we ask of them — and because a genuine culture of professionalism cannot be built by accident. It has to be taught, modelled, and lived every day.

“Professionalism isn’t a rule we enforce — it’s a habit we build together, every single day. By the time our students leave us, we want it to be second nature.”

Ms P Cowell, Director of Sixth Form

Professional conduct, from the classroom to the corridor

Choosing Sixth Form is choosing to be treated — and to behave — as a young adult preparing for professional life. Our expectations around behaviour for learning mirror what students will encounter in any workplace: punctuality, full preparation, meeting deadlines, cooperating with instruction, and communicating with courtesy and respect. Where a student falls short, our Formal Warning System is designed in the same spirit as a workplace performance process — an early, honest conversation intended to help a student turn things around, not a punishment for its own sake.

“We don’t just tell our students what professionalism looks like — we give them two years of practice at it, so it’s already part of who they are before they ever walk into an interview.”

Mr B Earley, Raising Standards Leader (Welfare)

Dressing for the environment you're entering

Our Sixth Form dress code is deliberately modelled on professional workplace standards rather than school uniform. Smart casual as the day-to-day norm, and full business dress for examinations, interviews, leadership events and careers activities, ensure that students build the instinct for reading a room and dressing appropriately — a skill they will need long after they leave us.

Identification and accountability

Every Sixth Form student wears an ID badge and lanyard at all times on site — the same expectation any employee would meet in a professional workplace, and one that also underpins our safeguarding practice. Wearing identification, being accountable for your presence, and being recognisable as part of a professional community are habits we instil from the very first week.

Attendance and punctuality as workplace readiness

We treat attendance with the same rigour as an employer would treat it, because the link between attendance and outcomes — academic and professional — is direct and well evidenced. Our banded attendance system (Green, Amber, Red, Red Action) gives students an early, transparent understanding of how absence and lateness are viewed in the world of work, with support and intervention stepping in well before a habit becomes a problem.

Work experience and employer engagement

Every Year 12 student undertakes work experience, sourcing and securing their own placement wherever possible — a first, genuine encounter with the expectations of a real employer. This is supplemented by virtual work experience and employer engagement through Unifrog and Springpod, so that every student, regardless of their starting point, builds a portfolio of workplace exposure to draw on in university applications, references and interviews.

Careers education, guidance and aspiration

Our Gatsby Benchmark-compliant careers programme — overseen by our Careers Co-ordinator and UCAS Co-ordinator — embeds professional and career readiness across both years of Sixth Form. Individual guidance interviews with our impartial Prospects Advisor, the Post-18 Aspire Programme, employer engagement events, dedicated UCAS and Pathways sessions, and our Futures Friday programme all ensure that students leave CBSC not only qualified, but genuinely work-ready and informed about the full range of routes open to them — university, apprenticeship, or employment.

Taking on responsibility and leadership

We actively create opportunities for students to step into positions of responsibility: peer mentoring, departmental leadership, Student Power, our Female Leaders Group, event support, sports leadership and paid roles such as supervisors and technicians. These roles let students practise leadership, reliability and initiative in a live setting — the very qualities that strengthen a personal statement, a reference, and a CV.

Honest, professional judgement in predicted grades

Even the way we predict grades reflects our commitment to professionalism. Predicted grades at CBSC are an exercise in evidence-led, professional judgement — aspirational but honest, drawn from a wide range of performance data rather than optimism alone. In doing so, we model for students the same standard of professional integrity we ask of them.

A thread that runs throughout the journey

From the first day of Year 12 to the final UCAS reference or apprenticeship application in Year 13, professionalism is not an add-on at CBSC Sixth Form — it is the framework within which everything else sits. By the time our students leave us, they carry with them not just a set of qualifications, but a genuine, lived understanding of what it means to conduct themselves professionally, wherever their next step takes them.

“CBSC doesn’t just prepare you for exams — it prepares you for how to carry yourself. That’s something I only really appreciated once I was in an interview.”

Year 13 Student