GCSE reduced subjects advice needed

OP would you be able to go physically to the school today or tomorrow? The fact they aren't responding to emails and it will be half term is so stressful, what a terrible way for the school to handle this if they believe your DS is struggling already! If possible, I'd be going to the school and sitting there until I could speak to head of year and Senco together.

Edit to add: its their self-imposed deadline that has created this stress, so you are well within your rights to require them to resolve this ASAP

My daughters school did compulsory religious studies as half a gcse, then dropped it as a qualification even though they still study it.

Her first option was a creative subject.

She dropped her language as she has dyslexia and chose another (creative) subject instead. She’s doing combined science which counts as 2 GCSE’s (rather than
triple science).

So she does eng, maths, 2 x science, 1 x humanities, 2 x creative. (And pointless rel studies) 7 GCSEs total. That’s standard for every kid in her school (although they may not have chosen 2 creative subjects). My other daughter (twins) is doing a language and chose both humanities but still only 7 GCSEs. Only the kids doing triple science will get 8 GCSEs.

Both my kids are doing really well and on track for good grades and both accepted at a good local 6th form college.

I hope that helps you to know that if your son does end up on this ‘alternative pathway’ it’s not as extreme as you may think.

I think it’s the lack of communication to date is outrageous though!

Yes 6 GCSEs is lower than average but it’s all I’ve ever seen required for A Levels.

It would usually be (say he wants to do history): a minimum of 6 in History and a minimum of 6 other GCSEs at grade 4 or above, including Maths and English

So having 6 GCSEs with good grades would be better than having 8 or 10 where he’s not done well in half of them.

I completely get yours and his frustration with the limits on the subjects, and I’d be challenging that aspect (he doesn’t want to do Drama so why can’t he do History and French etc).

However, what I will say is that bottom set Maths means he is obviously struggling somewhere with that. It’s therefore a good thing the school want to intervene now and get him to do extra Maths given that it is such an important subject to pass. It is absolutely worth getting one less GCSE but passing Maths. It sounds like perhaps if they need this Maths support they automatically get the English support too, which isn’t ideal if he isn’t struggling with that, but certainly won’t do any harm.

I understand what you’re saying re anxiety rather than intelligence, but exam anxiety can be just as big of an issue as lack of intelligence. If he has extra time for Maths/English then that’s also extra time for mock exams which will help the confidence issue.

I totally get where you’re coming from, and why he’s disappointed to not do the same as his friends. But I do think there are benefits to what they’re suggesting in some ways, and the negative parts you can fight them on (eg being allowed to do two humanities)

To be fair you have said he's in bottom set maths, and that he's below average in everything in his reports. I think although I stand by what I previously said that you don't gave to accept their suggested pathway, your child either needs assessing for extra time/ diagnosis of something that's a barrier - OR - you are deluding yourself about the whole A levels and degree thing. What is causing him to not be able to attempt the questions in the allotted time?

Sorry @ArtificialStupidity did not mean to quote you!

Why is it only the sendco you are trying to chase on this? Is the head of year not responsible too for options? Or there is often a member of SLT who oversees curriculum so I would be chasing all of them.

Despite you thinking all is ok, there is clearly a lot your son isn't telling you. The fact you are now aware he isn't finishing tests within the time limit suggests he is struggling, and whether this is due to sen or ability is not clear. You say he is bright but in what area? Are you an expert on the curriculum and can say he does have good knowledge and retention and has the ability to apply this to unseen questions? You mention he is bright, but if he is bottom set for maths, then it isn't that subject he is showing this in. I would think what is your judgement based on. Someone can have worldly knowledge and have an interest in something but not be able to articulate this in an exam or even understand a question if it's not one they have encountered before. If he is telling you about a subject I expect he is initiating the dialogue and the way it is presented to you, in an exam he has to select relevant information to answer the question and not just regurgitate anything and everything.

I think the fact he is in bottom set for maths (and likely English too to be offered this pathway, even though they don't set) would mean he has a better chance of performing better in these subjects which are essential for most jobs and options post 16. It is surely better he has more time on the core subjects and can achieve a pass (grade 4 or higher) than to take more subjects and then receive more grades but lower.
In sixth form and college a lot of subjects usually require 5 GCSEs grade 4/5 and above. This might be in the subject they wish to study but not always.
I think you are seeing it as negative for him to be placed on a different pathway, but if he is struggling this will be in his best interest. It wouldn't necessary be easy to start him off doing multiple subjects like you want only to then see he is struggling and to then want to change pathways as they may be in different points in the topics and changing will make it harder for him.

We had something similar with my daughter. In her case she has got SEN but has consistently been exceeding expectations throughout secondary so I assumed it was for her social communication needs. Her English teacher was really surprised when I said she had been put on the reduced pathway to focus on English and Maths so maths is her main issue (and she is doing ok at that). They used sat results to inform their decision and she only just passed maths. She is already flagged for an extra time assessment. I did think about fighting it but we have not been restricted to practical subjects, and she has decided herself that doing an additional GCSE will be extra stress even though it means dropping a subject she loves so we have decided to go with it. Like some of the previous posters, I would perhaps focus on choosing subjects your son loves in reduced numbers rather than purely practical.

What grades has your son been predicted throughout secondary school? My kids got a report every term, with a list of their subjects. Next to each subject was their target grade (which I believe was based on year 6 SATs and initial performance in year 7), and the grade they were currently working at. It enabled me to see how they were doing, and if their progress had changed from what had been expected.

Does your son’s school not do reports?

If your son was expected to get 4s, and he’s continuing to get 4s, then the teachers would have had no reason to highlight an issue, because he’d have been working towards his target.
However, if he was expected to get 7s, and was working at 4 level, then this should have been mentioned to you.
Have a look at his school reports and see what’s been happening to his expected grades over the past 2.5 years.

Science is two. English is two (literature and language).

Your son needs gcse results as a stepping stone to A levels, beyond that his results and oprions rarely matter.
If he's struggling in exam scenarios then yes, he needs extra support, but you seem to be taking this with too much competitiveness and pride over something that ultimately won't matter.
If the school want him to have support it is because they want him to do the best he possibly can. They are in a far better place to assess his academic capabilities in exam than you are.
Try to not panic and go and have a conversation with them.

Also, you previously told another poster to "keep up!" as they may have not read one of your posts. However, in your first post you mention Ebac multiple times as a measure of progress. But when your son gets to his gcse year, the Ebac will not exist, which announcement was made by the government a few weeks ago. So... erm... keep up!

None of my children chose the pathway the school allocated. They can't impose it at all. Just say no. In our case it was the standard ebacc and mine did not want to include a language. So we didn't select a language. Loads didn't. They do not have any right to "put" him on this pathway, they can only suggest it. Tell them in writing what you and he want his gcses to be. It doesn't sound right that you have not been told anything previously. Just be aware that he'll be at a disadvantage if he doesn't get 4 or higher in Maths and English. So think rationally about their suggestion. But if you don't want it you don't have to have it. I'm a secondary school governor.

His year 9 assessment scores were all below the year group average. Not way below. But they were below. His results do not reflect his intelligence or capability. He said he knew all the answers but didn't get to complete the assessments as ran out of time. So the unanswered questions that he hadn't got to pulled his total score down, even though all the questions he did answer were correct.

This matters for exams though. It doesn't matter if you "know everything". If you can't communicate that onto paper within the time frame, then you've got a problem. Is he generally quite slow at things like reading and writing? Did he tell you wasn't managing to finish exams/work in class in time?

Why move school when current school is trying to meet need. Communication isn't great but the offer is positive.
As stated in previous thread. What were his current grade and targets in reports.
Many schools target 3/4 borderline English and maths students for extra intervention.

I wouldn’t have expected to be told at parents evening, secondary school teachers only generally know what is going on in their individual classes, they don’t know about SENCO pathway decisions.

You should have been informed by the SENCO team and had the ability to discuss it. The decision to reduce his humanities based subjects means they think he will struggle with lots of essays. Is this the case?

Science is the clarity point here. That could be 3 subjects. And listen OP, it sounds like he’s been struggling so just listen to what they are saying. My DD16 left school last year, went to the FE college, she had a reduced GCSE timetable but did the 8 and got extra support in maths. He can still do A levels but also consider there are different paths.

English is 2. English language and English literature. I assume he’d be doing both, or has he been told he can’t do literature?
I would have thought science was combined science, which is also 2 GCSEs.

OP without wanting to kick you while you’re down, you do sound very ill-informed about all of this. Have there not been any meetings at school when they talk about GCSEs? At my kids school there were several pre-GCSE meetings when they told us how it all worked.

English is two GCSEs - Eng lit and Eng lang. The poster who talks about "English" as a singular GCSE is incorrect as there is no such GCSE as far as I know.

Science is two – combined science (most likely - I doubt he will be taking three separate sciences). Combined science doesn't stop you doing science A levels.

So he will be taking eight. IMHO it’s the creatives he doesn;t want to do that you need to focus on. What A levels does he want to do? and what degree?

OP it is off from the school but you do seem unusually passive about his education.

At this point most parents would have taken the day off work amd would be camping outside the head's office threatening hell fire and brimstone until it's sorted. Not sending emails to the senco. If you want to sort it, go to the school and stay there until you get what you want.

English is one subject on the timetable but two GCSEs - English language and English literature.

Science is one subject on the timetable but can be either one, two or three GCSEs depending on which course he is doing. It’s possible to do three GCSEs each in chemistry physics biology (known as triple science). Or he can do Combined Award (two GCSEs). Or there is single award - I have a feeling England doesn’t do this anymore but Wales and Northern Ireland definitely do.

maths is only ever one gcse although some schools offer either statistics gcse or additional maths gcse to top set students.

What subjects would he like to do at A-level? That would normally dictate what options he will choose. If he is in bottom set for maths/English then the extra study time for these subjects would be helpful as it is essential to pass both to move on to A-level. I think if he knows what A-levels he would choose then look at the entry requirements for those courses and make sure he can choose subjects for GCSE that will keep those options open.

I would accept the reduced number of GCSEs to allow extra Maths and English tuition, but would ask the school to allow him to follow his chosen courses for the remaining options, rather than the DT / Drama ect.

I am genuinely not sure that the school could enforce this situation.

Science is normally a double or triple award so counts as 2 or 3 GCSEs,

Please calm down. Take a breath and stop panicking.

My DD is 16 and left school last year for college so recently been in the school system. All the comments to go to the Head are not helpful yet.

Email his form tutor. This is the personal responsible for your DS day to day. They will be able to get you the answers you need. Ask to speak to them today.

You have lots of time until end of Feb to fill in the form. It takes 2 mins. For my DS we chose options that were not on the form so it can be done. My DS was project top scores though and found exams easy.

If your DS had the choice what subjects would he choose? What A level does he want to do and where? Look at the intake criteria for the college and the A levels he wants to do. You can use all this TODAY with your discussion with the form tutor to explain why their plan doesn't work for your DS

Finding exams hard is no reflection on intelligence. What are his predicted grades. Have these remained the same since year 7 or have the predictions been lowered?

If he is struggling with English and Maths it sounds like the school are putting a plan in place to ensure he passes these with a strong 4 or 5 as a minimum. Without a 4 he will have resit at college and may not to be able to do the subjects he wants in year 12 and may have to take a year longer - which is fine. Many do.

To do an A level you usually need a 6 or 7 in the subject. So Chemistry A Level a 7 in combined or a 6/7 in separates. The college my DS went insisted on 7s or 8s. as they were high performing and didn't want students to struggle. DDs college are less strict.

The subjects you see as 'less' still come out with a GCSE or equivalent and can be very good as based on assessment and not exams, giving him a chance to score well without the pressure of an exam. DD did a BTEC L1 or 2 animal care, she passed with a L2, is now doing a extended diploma at college (equivalent to 3 A levels) which gives her enough UCAS points to do go to uni. We're looking at zoology or vet nursing at uni for 2027.

This may not be the disaster you are imagining.y .DS considered medicine, they were not bothered about a EBac. Some insisted on 8s or 9s in some GCSE though and good English /Maths. His friend did veterinary, again without a EBac. It's more important to do well in what you study (5s. 6s or higher).

My DD got mostly 5s (she's dyslexic) and plans to go to uni. My DS got mostly 9s and is in yr 2 at uni.

Calm listening to the advice school give you to ensure your DS leaves with strong English and Maths and other subjects. If he's not finishing exams and his teachers are noticing him, have they plans to assess him for extra time to give him the opportunity to finish more questions.

Look at what you think he wants to do in the future and confirm if this will be possible or not and then speak to school calmly.

That’s not correct- as others have said it really depends on the school but an Ebacc isn’t seen by most as essential- most go on a points score and especially how you performed in the subjects you want to do at A level. My DC is dropping the language they currently study so won’t get the Ebacc.

In your position I would be looking at what the entrance requirements for 6th form are for his current school and local colleges and then speaking to the head of year. If you offer to do extra tuition at your own expense in English and Maths they might be persuaded to change their minds. If they won’t though I think you might need to change school.

But be aware though that they are suggesting this because they think your DS is going to struggle, especially in Maths so is it worth having a really hard look at what he wants to do next? He would be better off with 7 GCSE’s at decent levels, including maths and English, than getting 3s/ 4s across the board and failing maths.

Do not do this. It won't get you what you want. Teachers can't just change their timetables for irate parents who come in unexpectedly.