School removed GCSE for yr 11 student?

OP, I think a lot of people reading here can't get their heads round the difficulties this decision leaves your DD facing.

If she was doing brilliantly at History, English and RE, nobody would be suggesting that a child with dyscalculia should just pull their maths up when History got cancelled.

It's also hard for people to comprehend the situation when you have a SEN child on a reduced timetable who is going to score high in some subjects, fail others and doesn't have the luxury of 3-4 spare GCSEs to play with.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation with a very SEN DD who is ultimately going to come out with 7 GCSEs in total. Half of those are likely to be grade 8/9 with almost no effort and the other half I am hoping to drag up to a 5 but it's going to be like climbing Everest. I would be furious if school suddenly ditched her best subjects.

I can't honestly see why it is a major issue for the school to enter your child for triple and everyone else for combined? You may need to do some extra work at home, but that sounds an easier task than trying to pull up a subject she struggles with.

I would definitely contact HT, governors, SEND and the college she has the offer from.

This would really affect my DD too shes also chosen seperate science as one of her 3 optional GCSEs .
I hope there’s been enough pushback from parents that this gets changes.
i think if say they had pulled history as a GCSE a term before the exams the responses you have here would be different

As I said, they do triple sciences at the grammar schools where I live. They can drop one so will be doing two. I think that is less complicated for the school time table wise. The comprehensives do double and if those pupils go to grammar at sixth form for science A levels it is harder for them.

The Op has said in later posts A-levels aren't the plan.

There is a plan b - her DD would just prefer to do the T-level with more placements that she already has a conditional offer on based on getting 5 GCSE above 5 and doing 3 science GCSE.

The school doing this so late is the problem - and while Op can try and raise her DD other grades this late decision does reduce OP DD options and does disadvantage her.

If you are not confident of 5 x5 grades at GCSE it would be wise to have a back up plan rather than A levels.

What sciences would she do at A level? A warning those who get a 7 at GCSE can find A level sciences really challenging.

Good luck with arguing your point at the school.

If they won't reinstate it for this year's GCSE cohort at least, I would push for her still to be entered for separate sciences and switch the private tuition from English to Science. That might be as much as they would agree to. If you can't even get that, I would look at whether she could sit the separate sciences at a different exam centre (for example the college).

Since she's struggling so much in English, it sounds like a better option for her would be to try to get as high a grade as she can in the subjects she's good at, and then take some time next year to focus on English language (drop literature) as a resit. This may mean deferring college for a year, but in the long term her options will be severly limited without a 5 at GCSE in English language and Maths. She would probably benefit from the time to concentrate on bringing that grade up without worrying about the other subjects.

In England in state schools it is basically not permitted to do two or fewer individual sciences.

You can do triple - 3 GCSEs in the 3 sciences or combined which is 2 GCSEs in the 3 sciences.

Single used to be available (1 gcse but needed to cover all three sciences) but I think no longer is as the students at my school who used to do it now do entry level instead.

If you can find a school that offers that. I was talking about my DC's school where that isn't an option. Everyone except* *the bottom set does all 3. Bottom set does double award.
I think it is unusual to allow 2 individual sciences these days. Unless they have changed in the last few years there isn't a single school in a 30+ mile radius of where I live - independent, grammar or comprehensive - that offers that option. I looked in some detail at the science provision and results of every secondary within an hour's drive of our house when looking for my DC and they all offered double, all 3 or some kind of ability (not preference)based decider between the 2. Nowhere allowed 2 out of 3 which is ideally what one of my DC would have preferred.

I think it’s unfair at this stage for many of the students who have worked hard towards three GCSEs.

However, if not enough parents complain then it’s a lose-lose situation, as they won’t be teaching/revising the last third of the syllabus if it’s just one or two exceptions sitting the extra paper for the sciences.

I think firstly find out from the school how much of the syllabus has been covered/not covered, as it may be the last topics are harder or they are no where near finished and therefore her mock grades aren’t a good indicator of her final grade.
Then I would contact the college and explain, leading the way for exceptional circumstances if she doesn’t manage the 5+ in 5 subjects in the end.

On a side note, does the school offer further maths GCSE? As if she’s strong at maths, that could be an option or possibly they could offer after school intervention for those wishing to sit three science GCSEs.

Most likely they are worried about their own results table. Or are losing specialised staff at Christmas. But Year 11s should definitely be prioritised!

There is a huge shortage of science teachers. Sometimes this is the only way of managing a situation. Its shit but

Double science won't jeopardise anything. She will have the other gcses as well

The double science wasn't offered at my DC grammar. I can't see the advantage really because the pupils who aren't able to do three single ones can just drop to two. They are probably not going to do science A Levels anyway if they don't want to do three triple. For those that do science A levels covering more at GCSE will be an advantage.

It doesn't disadvantage students who prefer arts/humanities if triple sciences are offered because they can do two single science subjects.

What support or access arrangements are there in place for the dyslexia?

It does happen at our kids state grammar.
They all start on triple science and then some drop down to double science at the start of year 11.

Also after mocks, some students also dropped another subject. I don’t know if there was still an opportunity to drop to double science at that point. As they start off doing 11 GCSEs, it does mean the student is still taking 9 even if both happens, and they stop to double science and drop another subject. Plus it is an individual decision made in the interests of that particular student. Not the situation here.

OP has explained that her daughter is dyslexic. There is a vast difference between reading scientific and mathematical text, and reading (and especially writing) literature.

Ots too late in the day and unfair to the students. They wouldn't just suddenly say 4 terms in they were dropping Music or French or History...

Good luck.

I'm all in favour of choice. The norm at our school is to do triple, which was absolutely fine for my DC but I do think disadvantages the pupils who are more focused on arts/humanities as it reduces the number of subjects they can take at GCSE that play more to their strengths. Ideally I think that it should be an individual decision but I can see that that potentially creates a real headache with timetabling. Different schools do different things, and overall, for most pupils it probably isn't a huge issue whether they do double or triple.
But that is not the issue here. The argument is not whether double vs triple science is "better." The issue is that the pupils are about to enter their last full term of their GCSE course and are being told that they will not be sitting the exams that they were expecting to sit and have planned for, regardless of their individual needs and abilities. Entering all your pupils for double is OK. Entering all your pupils for triple is OK. Doing a mixture based on ability and interest is probably ideal. But changing policy without consultation when pupils are 80% of the way through the course is shit.

A local school has also done this with the exact same justification as well

it is an odd decision though the exams are at the same time and same number just 20/30 mins less each time and around 70% of the curriculum is the same triple covers more topics

which is a disadvantage for a level of those subjects haven’t been covered at all

and you still need teachers for each science component

That's just awful for her! I'm so sorry.

Yes definitely go and talk to the school. Explain how much this may affect your daughter's future. They are unlikely to change their decision though. Ask them for a letter for the college explaining her mock grades and how them not enabling her to do triple science may result in her not getting the grades they've asked for but she is very capable of excelling in science and they'd very much support her application.

Then speak to the college - take the schools letter. Explain the situation. They hopefully will be understanding.

Query. Why is she struggling with English if she is capable in science? They both require reading.

You mean the sixth form school said that or the school without a sixth form? I am sceptical that it makes no difference.

At this point in Y11, and given your DD's profile, I would be following the school's formal complaints process. I would submit a complaint on the basis that your DD is being unreasonably disadvantaged by this decision as her college offer is only realistic if she gains three grades for the three separate sciences. I would ask what measures have been put in place to ensure students with additional needs are not disproportionately disadvantaged by this decision and ask what will be put in place to ensure your DD will be supported to take the three separate sciences as opted for in Y9.

I would also include the information that you are not in a position to fund private tuition or private exam entry as you are already paying for tuition to help improve the likelihood of DD getting a grade 4 in English. Ask how the school is going to ensure students from families that cannot afford private tuition to complete the triple course are not disadvantaged by this decision.

Don't wait until after the meeting, get the complaint in now. It may help the trust to see an impact of this decision they'd not appreciated.

dd moved to a different school for 6th form as her school only went to 16. They were very clear there’s no connection and no real benefit to taking triple. Dd got 7,7 at gcse and is getting As in biology and chemistry ALevel.

Triple is obviously fine, but it isn’t a big deal if dc do double. It won’t hold them back.

My DC went to state grammar schools more recently and there was no choice. Everyone did triple. I don't know if anyone dropped to two single science but there was no double science covering three subjects. They probably get better results at science A-levels because of it.