GCSE English - grade 3

[cinderfrickingrella]

I was wondering if any of you would know the answer to this.. I've been googling but can't get a clear, definitive answer.

My DD got a 3 in her GCSE English.

She is hopefully going to start an apprenticeship soon. I was just reading that it is compulsory to resit if you get a 3. I've been in contact with her previous school who say only pupils enrolled in sixth form can resit there. So where/when would she do this if she's not going to be attending a college or sixth form? Is it compulsory? Who enforces it?

[sleepismysuperpower1]

as far as i'm aware it is compulsory, yes. the resit dates for these exams is in november, so you need to find an examination centre near you (where are you located?) and enroll her for the resits

[LIZS]

Is the apprenticeship linked to a college, if so they will provide any teaching and exam. Might not be a November resit though. Could she do functional skills instead?

[Dogsaresomucheasier]

The college where she is doing the qualification component of her apprenticeship will sort it out for her. If she doesn’t have 4s in maths or English she has to carry on studying them until she either gets a 4 or is 18. Usually these are run as evening classes on whatever her college day is. Contact them and ask about an early resist in November if she wants to get it out of the way.

[SunshineAngel]

There are plenty of exam centres dotted about. Usually, they will do classes in an evening (my local one is a Tuesday night between 6-9 for example) so it can be done in addition to other things.

[Mamapop1]

Whoever is providing her apprenticeship is responsible for her resit, either training her themselves or organisation of teaming up with someone else.

[cinderfrickingrella]

Thanks for all your replies. Can't believe I didn't know this.

She hasn't officially started the apprenticeship yet. It's hard for me as I feel a bit out of the loop. She's had a couple of interviews, etc that it's not my place to be at.

She's meeting with them on Friday, so will send her with a list of questions and see if the answers make any sense!

[Tiggles]

My Ds is doing an apprenticeship. Despite getting an A in both his maths and numeracy gcses and C's in his English ones (Wales so yes they do get Letters not numbers and do two of each) his education supplier for want of a better word, part of his apprenticeship, still tried very hard to enroll him onto maths and English gcse equivalent courses. They get paid for every child who takes the course. So I'm sure they won't let your dd slip through the net.

[Tiggles]

Forgot to say his were all offered as online courses. His apprenticeship is in England. They weren't actual gcses but courses at the same level.

[LolaSmiles]

Whoever the training provider is will typically offer the resit teaching. For example one of my former colleagues used to go out to the business sites or apprenticeship centres and deliver the resit to groups of students on different apprenticeships.

Another option is that they can access it through an FE college on their adult learning programme.

Best check with the provider themselves how they run it.

Something to consider (just my opinion by the way) is getting a tutor alongside the teaching for it. Entirely based on friends giving anecdotes, the cohorts for resits can be mixed and support from providers can be minimal so if she gets stuck in a class for 2h a week with people who aren't interested and would rather not engage then the impact of teaching will be lower. It might also be worth getting her paper back to see where she went wrong, and if you did get a tutor then they could address specific areas. For example writing skills are worth 40 marks on each paper for AQA and covers 50% of the grade. Theres no point spending hours on reading questions if the easy win is some literacy skills and writing techniques.

[LolaSmiles]

P.s. you may find there's a lot of teachers on the education boards who'd be willing to offer help if you want it. We're generally a nice bunch.

[cinderfrickingrella]

Morning!

What is worrying me the most at this point is the apprenticeship she applied for is a level 3 (applied with predicted grades). She has now had 2 interviews and completed a trial week and they have verbally offered it to her.

She is excited and quite invested in this already. The entry requirements were grade 4 English, grade 3 Maths. She has the other way around. She has a meeting on Friday to review everything, complete forms, get a start date. I am worried they will not be able to let her continue with her grade 3 English.

I'm trying to let this be her thing and not get involved as she's obviously taking steps into the big wide world. The Mother in me is desperate to be involved and/or try to fix it. I doubt it would reflect well on her if I started trying to get involved. Ergh. I guess the best I can do is keep my fingers crossed 🤞🏻