Most comprehensive schools (so most schools full stop) are academies these days and you get good ones and bad ones. The best thing to do might be to go to an open day at any of the options available to you and check out the vibe.
― ShariVari, Thursday, 18 July 2019 21:50 (four years ago) link
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grammar_schools_in_England
Some areas don't have any grammar schools at all
A 6th-form college is the same thing generally as a Further Education (FE) College. Or can be part of a school - but they provide the same thing.
― kinder, Thursday, 18 July 2019 21:53 (four years ago) link
If you hear talk of 'the eleven-plus' that's the entrance exam for grammar schools btw
Re the IB, it may have changed but I was offered the chance to do it (at FE college) after GCSEs instead of A-Levels - I guess this is just the 'diploma programme'?
― kinder, Thursday, 18 July 2019 22:01 (four years ago) link