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Original poster

German Gcse as an external candidate

57 replies

chillie · 20/01/2017 18:37

My dd is in yr9 and has decided not to take German GCSE as one of her options as she prefers other subjects. I have pointed out to her that it is very likely that she would get a level 9 and she agrees but says that she is likely to get a level 9 in all the subjects she has chosen too, and does not have room for this one.
Last summer she did the German 2014 foundation paper as her end of year exam and got a 'c' so I think that if she is able to get 'c' now then it would be better for her to do the exam this summer, two years early , as she has already done three years study for it rather than drop it with no qualification at all. she is not keen on the 'c' but I would be over the moon with a 'c', not just 'a's count. However the school won't do it as their grade average and therefore league tables would drop so I have to organise it myself. Anyone know how to go about this? I don't know if or even what a controlled assessment is or is part of the exam. The board is aqa I think and I have had a look but can't tell what I'm looking at.
Any and all help very gratefully received

OP posts:
Original poster
chillie · 21/01/2017 10:15

Laughingcamel Why do you think I think poorly of home educated children?
What did I say that gave you that impression. I think all education is good and whether home, day school or boarding school, is dependant on the child and their needs.

OP posts:
Original poster
chillie · 21/01/2017 10:09

Thank you to all of you who have taken the time and trouble to reply.
My DD got a 'c/b' (blue on the chart) at the end of year 8. She will still be taking 11 GCSE's through her school at the end of year 11, that won't change.
I agree that it won't count towards her countable tally of exams taken at the same time but it will be a measurable statement of an extra language. There are thousands of children who do early native language exams every year, I'm sure that these exams are not considered useless outright.

OP posts:
Laughingcamel · 21/01/2017 10:07

I personally know many home educated young people who have spread out level 2 exams. Absolutely none have had any difficulty getting into post-16 college, 6th forms or university.
You seem to think rather poorly of home educated youngsters. Sad.

daphnedill · 21/01/2017 08:21

I work as a home tutor for German after teaching in secondary schools for 25 years.

Firstly, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but it's unlikely that a pupil would achieve the new level 9 after a 'C' at the end of Year 9, unless she wasn't given the opportunity to do higher papers and could, in fact, have achieved more.

Secondly, there is no coursework in IGCSEs (there is in GCSE), but you would have to arrange a speaking assessor. I suppose the school could theoretically enter her as an external candidate (would need to check the regulations) and her own teacher would be the assessor.

Thirdly, I agree with others that I don't really see the point. The grade won't count towards anything. She will forget/remember her German, whether or not she does the exam. If she really has an interest in the language, she would be better keeping it up by perhaps reading online or going on holiday. There are sometimes opportunities at uni to pick up a language as a module or extra.

user1484226561 · 21/01/2017 01:59

They do not suffer at all from this.

you should come and meet some of the devastated, sobbing parents U have to deal with at enrollment every year, when they realise for the first time that their precious snowflakes have NOTHING in the GCSE stakes, and the majority of their carefully accumulated A are considered worthless, taken separately and individuality, because most candidates can get all As doing it like that.

There's always the few that simply don't believe it, and come back begging day after day, with their semi-educated offspring, who have always believed and trusted in their parents philosophy that they can do it how they want, and are finding out for the first time that they are right royally screwed.

to be honest, the youngsters rarely seem particularly moved, its the parents who break

Laughingcamel · 20/01/2017 22:12

Home educated youngsters tend to spread gcse / igcse over 2-3 years. They do not suffer at all from this. It does not usually matter if they are different years.
An igcse is quite often easier to arrange as an external candidate. There is loads of info on wiki-pages under " home education igcse" or similar.

user1484226561 · 20/01/2017 19:06

wht is the point of doing it now? it won't ever count towards her GCSEs, she is only in year 9. GCSEs only count if they are taken in year 10-11, and sometimes only 11.

This is because it is very easy to get all As if you take one exam every six months for 5 years, 10 A for almost everyone! So they only count if taken all together.

And yes, you need controlled assessments, and that will most likely not be possible.

If she is only getting a C now, she would be unlikely to get 9 in year 11, to be honest.