Hmm.. I should say that ultimately, CAE gave me what I wanted when it comes down to it; flexibility and more time during the week.
I did have one problem though, and it sounds small but for me it wasn't - I was given hardly any homework throughout the entire year. This meant that I would have to put in extra effort so as to make up homework for myself so that I could keep on track with the course, but on the upside it also meant that I had plenty of time to study up for SACs. I wouldn't recommend going to CAE if you don't have any will power or self control, as a lot of your fellow students may be lax - very friendly - but lax when it comes to studying, and the one class a week timetable can make it hard to keep motivated sometimes.
When it comes to teachers I really liked all of mine personally, but teaching-wise they really could have been better. Although I really couldn't comment on any of the teachers for the subjects you would be doing - they could be very different (I think there were probably a few good teachers for other subjects).
The only person I could rely on was myself, my teachers were often not in-depth enough and I felt often failed to emphasise points in the course that were very important, and I only came to realise this during my own revision a month before the exams.
I also had this constant fear that despite being top of my classes (I don't mean to boast), that compared to the rest the cohort in my subjects across the state, that I was crap. Mind you it was a reasonable/sensible fear, because at CAE the quality of student in your classes are often not too good (in my experience) so your being top of the class can mean shit all. This meant that throughout the entire year I really had no idea how I was doing, I had no idea whether I'd be getting 20's, 30's or 40's, it was that ambiguous (this is where AN comes in).
Basically:
If you're looking for a more independent, mature, free year twelve experience during which you'll be able to make lots of friends and forget crap like uniform, detentions, playgrounds etc... and studying plays second fiddle, then yeah I would go for CAE.
If you want do well in a straightforward manner (decent teaching, knowing that what you're learning is relevant, knowing how you compare to the rest of the state), and need a stricter learning environment - the type that you won't find at CAE, then no I would probably avoid it.
That being said, if you think you have enough will power it's possible to do well still, it just may require a whole lot more unnecessary effort.
Ahh... massive post
hope it's enough to mull over
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