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Education

If a child is in a year 'behind' can they leave school at 16 with no exams???

21 replies

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 12:10

Just this really.

My child is in a year 'behind' in Scotland and I have JUST discovered they can leave school at 16 with no exams?!

Can this happen in England, please?

OP posts:

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titchy · 12/07/2015 12:58

Well kids can't leave school till the end of year 11 which is when they do GCSEs. There nothing to compel them to actually turn up to exams though so plenty do leave with nothing! Additionally young people in England are supposed to continue with some sort of education or training till they're 18. For those that don't continue full time at sixth form there should be options such as apprenticeships with a training element.

Doesn't Scotland do national 4 exams at 14 or 15 now though then national 5s a year later?

Artandco · 12/07/2015 13:00

No it's now 18 as from this September

LIZS · 12/07/2015 13:03

Any child can leave in England with no qualifications. School leaving age is still June of the academic year they turn 16 although have to remain in education and training until 17 or soon to be 18 and would be expected to continue to work towards level 2 in Literacy and numeracy even while in an apprenticeship or taking a college based course in another subject.

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 14:02

well child is 1 year behind in Scotland.
Have chance to move to England where he would also start 1 year behind.

Trying to work out if there will be any advantage to either option when he is 16. ???

B'day is end Sept btw.

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LIZS · 12/07/2015 14:10

No I don't think there is any advantage and indeed he could find it awkward around gcse timing as in theory he could "leave" in year 10 before taking the exams. Courses are changing form this year and there will be less coursework and assessments and more reliance on exam papers in future.

Another option might be entering a fe college at 14 and doing vocational courses alongside the basic literacy and numeracy qualifications, where any age discrepancy would be less apparent. Sometimes this is pt In partnership with a secondary school, sometimes ft at the college. Also depends if he can cope with that environment at that age. Not all areas or colleges currently offer this.

kua · 12/07/2015 14:41

What year is he going into? Is he doing Nat 3, Nat 4 or Nat 5s?

Nat 5s are the exam based qualifications. If he is doing Nat 4s in S4 he could still do the Nat 5s in S5 or a combo of both.

Has he said he is planning to leave at 16?

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 15:12

He is currently going into Scottish P6 where he will turn 11 this autumn.

He has the option of going into English Y5, which would make him up to between 1yr 11m older - 11m older than his peers. Or he could go into Y6.

He is really dyslexic, dyspraxic, dysgraphic.
He also has a high IQ (97th centile) and is really gifted tech-wise.
He probably has Aspergers - very bright, but finds socialising terribly hard.

Where he is atm he is very depressed / switched off.

Says he 'wont go' to High School.
Says he will leave at 16 / no exams.

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kua · 12/07/2015 15:24

Aw, he seems to be really stressed. It sounds that you may have seen the educational psychologist. Is he getting any extra support at his current school?

I would forget about mentioning exams etc for the moment.

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 15:28

kua yes, he is.

Ed Psych saw us not him and told us we were 'overanxious' -
They have just 'assessed' him for dyslexia without even meeting him???

No, no extra support. Very rubbish where we are, hence thought of moving.

Was just worried if his year is non standard in England whether he could leave without exams there too?

The crying shame is he is on 97th centile, so it is all there in his head, he just cant get it out easily (due to the dyslexia) so thinks he is stupid and a failure.

We haven't mentioned exams AT ALL (hard enough to get him to go in as it is...) but he was talking to a friends son who is 16 and I overheard what they were saying.

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LIZS · 12/07/2015 15:37

In that case I would suggest there is more risk if he remains back a year as when he turns 16 it would be over 18 months before the exam sitting. Can you afford a private ep assessment? With Ds being told he was a potential high achiever, as much so as those who were recognised at school, and that he could, for example, use a laptop was a huge boost. Also having him in sets and a selective school meant he was exposed to higher level of discussion and gave him aspiration. Not for all subjects though, he was in middling/lower sets for maths, moved down but still achieved an A grade.

kua · 12/07/2015 15:45

I can understand your frustration, a friend of mine went through something similar and Ed Psych were no help at all.

What are the other schools like in your area? Here in Edinburgh there are a few in the state and independent sector that have excellent learning support departments.

I have seen many posts from those in the English system having the same issues as yourself. I'm not sure that changing year groups would help without his needs being assessed.

I would have a look at the SQA website which explains the new Curriculum for Excellence and the progression through the qualifications. Nat 4s being the minimal that they should leave with etc.

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 16:16

LIZS - we HAVE a private EP assess.
LEA not very interested - they have conceded he is 'dyslexic for spelling' and that is it...
We also have private assess for ASD putting him on spectrum, again, locals not interested.

kua all the schools in my area seem the same (big area, same LEA).
worried if we stay he wont even leave with Nat 4's???

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LIZS · 12/07/2015 16:23

So what did ep recommend? Surely educating him out of year is contradicting his intellectual potential. He needs to be engaged and imho that would be best achieved with his peer group, not the year below some of whom would be almost 2 years younger.

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 16:27

EP recommended he be given SfL but had no opinion on year group (tho we didn't ask, tbfair).

The year behind in Scotland was at our request as he simply didn't cope in P1 (asd issues...) and it was agreed but no support has been given since.

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kua · 12/07/2015 16:32

I think, rather than focusing on DS being a year behind and repeating a year. I would look at how to supporting his learning needs. Would he enjoy a computer course? Baking at home for example is great in teaching measurements, audio books etc.

I can see that you are very worried but you do have time to put in place support for him prior to secondary school.

LIZS · 12/07/2015 16:35

Sfl? Can you ask for a review, how long ago was the report?

titchy · 12/07/2015 17:17

If he went into English year 5, would the secondary be able to accommodate him for that extra year, or would he be expected to go straight into year 8?

I've read a few threads on MN about dreadful treatment of SN in Scotland and England might well be better from that point of view, particularly if you find the right school. But you'd have to look very carefully at your secondary options not just primary. Going into the correct year group with appropriate support might be better than him going into year 5 knowing he's a year older which reinforces his differentness. But you'll need to get those supports in place and make sure secondary is willing to continue with them. You will find a very broad spectrum of ability at secondary btw, from kids who are barely literate taught in groups or 3 or 4, to top set very high fliers.

And I wouldn't worry about what he says about leaving school at 16 - he's only 10!

DopeyDawg · 12/07/2015 17:26

support for learning.

Private EP Report was recent, so this is current position of LA

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LIZS · 12/07/2015 17:27

Worth a call to ed psych for advice imho

mummytime · 13/07/2015 09:21

I would personally want him in the correct English year, and have the school put in the additional resources to cope with his difficulties. See it as a whole fresh start.
He will have to stay in Education or training until he is 18, and he will have to retake GCSEs in English and Maths. He may end up taking more vocational courses.
However if he really cannot cope with mainstream English education, then he may need a special school. That is another reason I would want him in his correct age cohort, so if this is what he needs it will be more obvious.

senua · 13/07/2015 09:24

The rest of the UK don't seem to have them, but England has things called University Technical Colleges. Would one of these suit your DS? They don't take pupils until Year 9 (age 14) so you have plenty of time to investigate and plan.

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