Advice please following GCSE's. What next?

What about another school that offers BTecs? One college is very limiting - I agree. Of course they educate adults too. However they won’t necessarily be a majority on her course.

Does her school not offer any btecs at all, the ones that are one A level equivalent. DC's school does.

Getting low grade A levels and struggling is not an attractive proposition. Low A level grades are not a passport to much. She’s simply not academic. Therefore BTec is the way to go.

My DD with 12 GCSES Bs and Cs did a BTEC went to uni and now is a very successful OT. My other DD also did a BTEC with 11 high GCSEs and has a private practice as a CBT now. I know where I would go

Gently then, your options are:
-go back to the sixth forms you want and ask again at the start of term - but I think it's unlikely you'll get a yes at this point
-look at a wider geographic area and suck up a long journey if you can find one that will take her for a levels
-Accept the btec at the one you don't like and support her through that
-look at a non college route - work or apprenticeship (could be tricky at this point though and only really works if she knows what she wants to do)

You can feel hard done by but ultimately if the colleges won't take her, that's that.

Does she have an offer from a 6th form to take her for the subjects she wants?

With 6s in English, Drama and RS and very close to a 6 in History then I think it sounds as though she would be capable of A-levels in the subjects she wants as long as she puts the effort in that she didn't for GCSE.

She may not be destined for A's but there are students that don't show fully what they are capable of until beyond GCSE's.

If she has an offer then I would suggest starting, given you both didn't feel that the college or the course was right.

If she is struggling then it would be possible to switch to college and start a 2 year course afresh next year.

I agree with @JamesWebbSpaceTelescope - did she or you speak to the school on results day? I’m a bit surprised they wouldn’t take her with 6 in one chosen and two relevant subjects (English and RS) and a high 5 in history. Was the 5 the issue? Yes she would need to work hard and use her time well. She is unlikely to be looking at AAA but BCC atA level are still grades worth having that can take you to uni if you want that.

Are you very rural? Are there no other options? Does she have a space sorted somewhere for next week?

I thought you could do core subjects if you needed higher grades, but obviously you can't.

Sorry to hear OP. My DC slipped down too but scraped in to his chosen A levels. He was predicted higher and feels he didn’t work hard enough and was a bit complacent. I think pp is right about if expectations/ mocks etc were better it might give your DC a stronger chance with A levels

At one of DCs’ sixth form options I read about the destinations and there were a lot of DCs going to Unis and degree apprenticeships with BTECs - I was quite struck by it! Sixth form can also be 3 years so that could open options for retakes?

Best of luck

Have you had any conversations with the school? With that profile we might take but have conversations that she needs to know that statistically it will be hard for her.

She would need to start strong, get good study habits in place from the start. Free periods are so tempting to socialise but for a weaker (for want of a better word and just in this context) student if they fall behind it can be a lot harder to catch up. If there is no work set then review the last few lessons, read the textbook and answer and questions there, read ahead to be prepared.

If the college you looked around the only alternative as that doesn’t sound like a good fit.

I also couldn’t sleep for worrying this week.

My DC got similar results and sixth form were very keen for her to sign up but she’s been torn between college and sixth form. In the end she’s gone for a college course as we think she will have a better outcome.

College is an hours travel but it’s only 2.5 days.

It’s not their life decisions, they can do something else after.

What were the grade 6's in? If English lang and history then those choices sound okay. Or alternatively, can she do a combination of A level and BTEC?
I agree about the step up from gcse. My dc is doing stem subjects at A level and he got a bit of a shock. There were also some unpleasant end of year 12 results for some of his peers.

GCSEs are good predictors of future A level grades. It is possible to do a levels with 5 and 6 s. My school allows it. She is most likely to get C /D grades in her A levels I would say. I say this based on the performance of many students over the years. Also history is pretty challenging of the 3 she is considering and she may find it a real slog.

Btecs can work out better but are not an easy option as require lots of effort over the course and still have exams. They will allow uni entry if that’s what she wants. I would suggest she also retakes maths to try to get a 5 as that can make a difference later in life.

I know it was a typo but I love the idea of a college trying to recruit a load of nuns to do the courses.

Edited to add: you are right. The college is looking after their interests not the students in those cases.

If she got less than a six in drama gcse it will be harder to do well at A level. Sociology is not a soft subject and has some maths content . History has a lot of content and analysis. Sixth forms set their entry criteria and without a mitigating circumstance they will probably not consider her. Maybe visit the college and speak to an adviser. Does she have any particular goal in mind for after year 13?

This GCSE profile lends itself to a Btec or a Btec and 1 A Level. Pursuing this route with modular exams through the 2 years is likely to lead to higher results than via A Levels and if they want uni, to give more uni options than low A levels.

A levels are the academic route for 6th Form. The grade profile of DC doesn’t fit. And places which will take a student onto an A Level with 4/5 are looking at boosting their own funding and nuns on seats rather than student best interests.

It’s v common for 6th formers to travel to college. They might not need to be in every day and will almost certainly have some later starts. But time is moving on and it’s time now to really get this sorted out.

There is no nationally accepted minimum for doing A levels. At my school it is generally a 7 with some subjects accepting a 6 (including one of mine).

Even with 7s you are not looking at straight A*! Or As. There will be a range in there from C up.

It feels harsh but it isn’t intended to be, it is experience that shows students with lower GCSEs typically struggle, which leads to a miserable 2 years and a potential knock in confidence. It is really tough getting DS and Es repeatedly in tests/ feedback.

Post 16 options aren’t discussed enough and the different pathways considered. A levels are seen as the default and the others somehow lesser. They really aren’t. They are all level 3 qualifications.

My advice to you is to think further ahead - what does she want to do post 18 and even looking beyond that. Does she have something that she wants to do? Why those subjects? Do they take her somewhere or they seemed interesting.

It can be a tough conversation to have with you (emotions tend to get in the way!) but ChatGPT can act as a great coach asking you questions to help you figure out your own thoughts. “These are my GCSE results. I am unsure of what I want to do now. Can you ask me questions and coach me though the process”

Remember life is rarely a straight path, there are always twists and turns and the best views often come after an unexpected detour.

And she is more than just a set of numbers written in a piece of paper. Her grades do not define her.

A levels are a huge step up and hard. Would definitely look at the btech. Ds did a levels did ok but it was a hard 2 years for him, his friend did a btech and got offers from all 5 unis he applied to and the work load was much more evenly spread over the 2 years and in hindsight might have suited ds better although they did d not really have one that excited him.

You can't redo GCSEs other than Maths and English, unless you pay to do it privately. And even for Maths and English, it's only if you get <4.

If she can write an essay or thrive in creative subjects she may do better at A-Levels. Some people do better when they can focus on three subjects they enjoy and stop having to study things they hate.

Could she re do year 11 to try to achieve higher grades? This is likely to be at college

DC has just completed A levels - he took all essay based subjects including History. It is a massive step up from GCSEs - it’s no longer a memory test; essay structure, formulation of argument, writing style all come to the fore. He loves the subject and is going to study it at university, so although it was hard work for him, he did enjoy it. There were moments of frustration though and it took him a while to really grasp how to engage with the questions to get the best marks - he resubmitted many an essay to his teachers. There is also the NEA to consider, it’s a big ask and best researched in year 12 before demands escalate in year 13.

I agree with the PP that you need to consider why she didn't do as well as she hoped. Did she:
-Work hard and feel she did her best in the exams? In which case it might simply be she isn't capable of better in academic study and another route would be more suitable
-Work hard but screw up the exams, so exam technique work is needed
-Not work particularly hard because she didn't enjoy it, so again a-levels probably won't be right
-Not work hard because she was distracted by social life/boys or was overconfident, and feels she can commit to hard work this time around?

If you can get to the bottom of this you would have a better idea of whether university is something she should realistically aim at or not and whether it's worth casting the net wider to find a college that might allow her to do a-levels.

In general, a young person whose grades at GCSE are 4s/5s/6s is going to get grades CDE at A-Level. If your daughter going to be able to pursue her current plans with A-Levels at those grades? Because if she's set on A-Levels because of plans that are going to need AAB at A-Level she is better off changing those plans now. But there are plenty of non-elite universities that will admit students with D & E grades at A-Level.

A Levels do not have to be done immediately after GCSEs. She could do something else then return to start A-Levels after a year or two. This might be wise if the main issue at GCSE was a general lack of maturity which meant she just didn't study hard enough.

Colleges that set 7 as the minimum GCSE grade for starting their A-Level course are expecting everyone to be getting an A, with their occasional B regarded as a "failure". That's not an environment where your DD will thrive, her achievements will be disregarded and she'll lose confidence.

A Levels are indeed hard. They are designed to sift out the highest-performing academic kids. There is nothing wrong with being an average kid. There's nothing wrong with getting Ds & Es at A-Level, they just don't work as a path for an average kid to get into the "elite" of the highest academic performers.