Would you let your kids give up on some of their GCSEs?

5 5s to do A levels? God, where is that? In our area any DC has to have at least a 6 in any subject they want to do for A level and if they've only managed to pass 5 subjects in total even the state sixth forms wouldn't take them. And tbh, if he's only capable of scraping a 5 in an A level subject at GCSE he's going to struggle to get any kind of decent grade in that subject at A level, because A levels are much harder.

@ElsaLing it depends.
If he is working his butt off and seems to be truly despairing that his hard work isn’t yielding the results that he needs and genuinely thinks that devoting the hours he has spent on eg History could be better spent topping up the hours he gas spent on Maths, then yes. Seems only sensible.

If, however, he could reasonably be putting more hours in, then I think it a way of trying to avoid the anxiety of having loads of work to do and to relieve pressure on himself. As you’ve seen - a slippery slope. Before you know it he’ll have cut his ‘important’ subjects down to English and Maths only, and when he realises that the expectation on his performance in these subjects is now higher, and he still has to face the prospect of hours revision on a Saturday, it will be “Who cares about GCSEs anyway I’m not cut out for academic work”.

If the latter scenario seems more likely, better to address the revision anxiety / procrastination and give him the “its doing your best that matters most, not your grades” talk, to get him going again.

I wouldn't have a problem with it if they were struggling with the workload and aiming for 5 5s was a better option for them than revising for all 8 and risking not getting the 5s in core subjects.
But it doesn't sound like that's the situation here if your DS is predicted 6/7s and wants to do A levels.
I would be questioning why he wants to do A levels if he is struggling at gcse? It's not just about academic ability- if he's not enjoying the workload then maybe going down an academic route isn't for him and he should look at different options for next year.
A level is a lot more work than gcse and it's not just about aiming for a 5 because that's all you need to get to be allowed to do the A level, the more you learn at gcse the better foundation you have for A levels and if he just scrapes a 5 he's likely to struggle.

2000' era

Oh, and Sixth Forms may use APS as their criteria for deciding which student get onto a course if it is oversubscribed. So even if he gets a 9 in chemistry and wants to do chemistry level...if his APS is the lowest on the list of eligible students for that a level, he may be bumped by students 8/9 grades because their APS is higher a d it demonstrates a better tenacity and work ethic

Unfortunately schools don't usually have any capacity for year 11 students doing self-study and certainly some year 11s would not be trustworthy enough to actually work and not just mess around. Where are they supposed to be doing this self-study? Supervised by whom?

Doing 10 GCSEs is normally for most kids. If he can’t manage these, he will find A levels very hard and I would be looking at an alternative. If it is a case of him just not wanting to do all subjects, I would be telling him to suck it up and crack on. Unless there is a disability here, 5 GCSEs is not good.

The cynic in me says they'll have been awarded funding if you did exams!

If he is going to do it (and like PP I am not convinced this is a good life lesson...we all have to do stuff we are not so keen on) then please do it officially throught the school. So he is withdrawn rather than failing.

Otherwise it will bring down his GSCE APS. (APS is simply the average GSCE result...you take 10 GSCEs...get 10 x grade 6 and your APS is 6. Take 10 GSCEs and get 7x6 and 3 x1 and your APS is 4.5). Employers/Unis can use the APS when selecting applicants...as it demonstrates those who try hard even for stuff they are not so keen on.

Who would you rather employ/ work with? Someone who sticks with it? Or someone who cherry picks the easiest bits?

There is a big difference between "struggling , unlikely to pass no matter how hard they revise, and other subjects will suffer" and "lost interest, revision is dull, cba to revise and want to spend time gaming/hanging out with mates/gf"

but the educational landscape is absolutely not the same now and I think it’s very misleading to suggest it is.

I agree.

The "in my day" posts on educational threads are totally irrelevant to today.

I genuinely cannot remember the explanation I was given at the time, it was around 2015 so only 10 years ago but probably a lifetime in curriculum! Perhaps it was a change in national curriculum or something.

When was that? I failed a lot of my O and A levels but still got into an RG uni (before RG was a thing) - but the educational landscape is absolutely not the same now and I think it’s very misleading to suggest it is.

My dd wrote her name on her history paper and that was all. She's now at uni doing her dream degree. She focused on other subjects and loosing one made no difference

Considering he's on track for a 6/7 in ones he's planning to not bother with, that just sounds like laziness rather than being overwhelmed. My dd essentially stopped working for chemistry as she hated it and found it difficult but school wouldn't let her drop it. So we agreed it was better to focus on getting 7/8s in her best subjects than spend time trying to get a 4 instead of a 3 in Chemistry. Personally I think it would be better to drop a subject completely rather than have a grade 2 or whatever on your certificate but it presents a timetabling problem for schools as they don't have capacity for kids to not be in timetabled lessons.

This update has put be solely in the ‘YANBU’ category. It sounds like he’s entirely capable but just can’t be arsed with these topics. There’s plenty of things I have to do every day that I can’t be arsed to do but that’s life and part of growing up, sadly. I think I’d take the stance of ‘tough shit, you’re doing it’ (may be better only said in your own head).

@Cupcakes2035 I needed to read this today. Well done indeed and thank you so much for sharing this.

Only lasts 5 years and is out if date? Never heard of this.
The current MFL specification has been in place since about 2018. The kids in Y11 are the last ones sitting that spec. Not sure about other subjects

I have been told that unis look at the top8 GCSEs, so dropping below that is not a good idea. If he isn’t struggling (and it reads that way) but just can’t be bothered he needs to change his attitude. No matter what he does in future there will be tasks that seem pointless and boring that you just have to knuckle down and do.

It’s a good life lesson. Sometimes you have to put the hard graft in, even if you don’t want to/ can’t see the point,

I agree that on an application have 7 grades and 3 fails wouldn’t demonstrate he could cope with the rigours of academic uni life.

Have a negotiation - keep the best one and discuss with the school withdrawing from the other 2 (they might agree as low passes don’t look good on their results either). But he will probably have to still attend lessons and would have to be completely non-disruptive.

If it doesn’t impact his a-level choices, then fine. I wouldn’t actively encourage it but it seems he has it planned out so it’s his choice really. If it were going to impact his options later, I’d probably be a bit harsher but it doesn’t sound like it will so I’d leave him to it.

I was asked to provide my English and Maths GCSE certificates at 48 for something, despite having a couple of degrees which I wouldn't have been able to do without English and Maths, and I'm not sure that what I achieved 32 years previously necessarily proves anything about my current abilities.

So, I would focus on those rwo, and any subject he wants to take at A-level. I wouldn’t be happy about him giving up on 3, and would encourage him to do some work,but realistically, what can you do? In the end only he can do the work and sit the exams, and if he isn't motivated at all, he just won't.

If she wants to go to uni she’ll be up against people with more, and that could affect her offers.

Those who work in uni admissions will be able to advise further but don’t forget that when he applies to uni the only qualifications he will actually have (as opposed to predicated grades) will be his GCSEs. And he will be up against people with 9 or 10, which then begs the question, why doesn’t he?

But anyway, you allowed him
to drop one and now he’s dropped three. Education isn’t just about the grades needed for the next stage. In many countries specialisation doesn’t occur until part way through uni.

Sounds as if he has something else in mind for the time he might have spent revising, I doubt that will transfer into the other subjects. Variety is good. He is wrapping you and dh around his fingers, first one subject then suddenly three...If something goes awry on the day with exams in his preferred subjects he is giving himself less leeway. He may have to attend regardless so should at least attempt to pass.

@CerealPosterHere do you similarly screen out students who have low numbers of GCSEs? How would 5 or 6 good GCSEs stack up against 7 excellent ones and 3 poor?