Daughter kicked out of 6th form **Title edited by MNHQ**

This has happened to my son too. Really unexpected and unprepared. We've had good news in one of his AQA remarked papers but still school won't take back as only has two poor passes. I haven't enjoyed parenting son and little support from secondary education. It affects whole family. It's all grade focused nothing being taught in schools about career pathways. Pleased it's all worked out for you, worth the battle in the end.

So your DD's grade went up 2 grades, have you asked for feedback from AQA, you can do that if the grade was changed 2 or more grades. Also, it was nice of your school to contact you on a saturday morning.

Is this real? She's gone up two grades, and you were told on a Saturday. And she was being kicked out for failing one as, when doing four?

Is it just me or is this unbelievable and bizzare?

Bizarrely I got an A at GCSE psychology and then an E at a-level psychology so I never took it further than AS level. Really strange though as I attended all classes and revised really hard. I'm not entirely sure what went so wrong and 15 years ago we didn't really get feedback. I just continued with my other a-levels for the second year.

Copper , I did say 'I think' and have already been put right. You are very rude sometimes!

Two grades? That's amazing!

The norm now seems to be moving towards only starting 3 - the start 4, drop one was better IMO, especially with subjects not studied before or for the many not certain what they want to do after.

Good news about the remark, OP - but depending on what the other subjects are and what she wants to do, it still may be sensible to drop it.

So is she being allowed to continue with the other 3 subjects next year? Seems sensible to concentrate on 3 rather than struggle with 4. I thought it was the norm for most students to drop one subject in the second year, thought I may be out of date with that

I teach in a sixth form. All students are told that an E/U grade at AS is not sufficient to continue into the second year. I can't see the issue with this? The AS is worth 40% of an A level which is harder. So. If a student can't score over 40% on an easier paper why do so many think that pushing them onto a further year will be beneficial for them? It often makes them anxious and depressed continuing on a course of which they are failing.

it wasn't taken that seriously

the assessment summarising and applying everything learnt in the first half of the course wasn't taken seriously? can you hear yourself?

Not fair for the student to carry all the responsibility and consequences.

well, this could be the attititude that got he r into this situation

I have been following the legal challenges re the grammar school who were denied progression to year 13

there is no comparison, they were excluded for getting C, she has been withdrawn from a course because the indications are she is failing it

I think if you gain a U it doesn't need to go on UCAS, so it's as if it didn't exist in fact.

that is nonsense, every exam result has to go on every application, forever, and to omit it is fraud.

Oh, and to clarify the 1/2 in your OP, they'll be advising her to do Applied Science AS whilst in year 13 to supplement and complement her full A levels (and to replace her psychology in terms of her suite of results) because she wouldn't have time to do the full A Level. It's solid advice, although , as others have pointed out, she could just do three full A levels, assuming she was studying 4 in year 12.

But she failed then there is no point continuing now. At best she might get a D, and no decent university will accept such a poor grade.
She would be better off switching courses.
It doesn't sound like she is reading around the subject at all.

This doesn't make sense. If she was doing four a levels, and failed one as and the college suggested an alternative because she failed, then it would seem like good advice. However why would she be kicked out? Did she fail the other three? You don't get kicked out for failing one of four. Most kids only take three a levels.

A U does need to go on her UCAS form.

That I did not know!

The first year of A levels isn't for 'kicking back'. It's a really important year when teenagers really start to study subjects in much greater depth. The step duo from GCSEs is huge.

To the OP. It sound likes you want someone to 'blame' and you're focusing on the school rather than talking honestly to your daughter. The AS may not count towards the A level now but it counts in other important ways - notably in allowing pupils to see how they are progressing after a year's study at a higher level and also as a signal of ability to Universities if applying through UCAS.

Surely that is obvious?

its all a bit pointless though isn't it. In my day BBC was perfectly good enough to get you into eg Manchester or most red bricks.

OP it sounds to me as if the school should be looking into what went wrong . Very good luck

So to clarify is she been ask to leave completely? If so that is ridiculous as she has 3 other great passes. You should complain, via the giveners.

If she's being told to just stop taking one A level, that's fine. Both my DDs only took 3 A levels (plus General Studies), having dropped one after year 12. This was school policy- drop the one AS level to concentrate in 3 great A level grades.

At St Olaves students with respectable grades are getting kicked out, though.

They've now been told that they can come back.

A U does need to go on her UCAS form.

This is a completely different situation to the one in the news. There pupils were being kicked out to protect school stats. Here your DD is not being allowed to continue a course that she failed. This is because if she failed Y12, there is very little point in continuing in Y13 as she will most likely fail again or do very poorly and it would be a waste of a year.

This case in the news is annoying as parents and students are now going to demand their 'right' to continue failed courses (didn't revise, exam didn't count etc etc) when it's probably going to end badly and schools are trying to do what's best for the student. No the exam doesn't count, but the content hasn't been learned, and the next year has a whole lot of new content so there's not much time to go over the previous stuff. St Olave's case was completely different - there the kids had passed Y12 with good grades.

It is definitely very different form the way it once was. The positive side of it is that the schools tend to teach with more focus throughout now and students, on the whole, are more driven and diligent throughout and more focused. There are definitely negatives : it can be exhausting for all concerned and there are those who drop by the wayside

I have been teaching a long time and I would argue that a student I taught 20 years ago who coasted a bit and then got a B or C at A Level was happier and more relaxed - but uni offers were a bit lower then too. The same student now would probably be pushed harder and push herself harder, would probably get more revision strategies and sessions put on for her (another double edged sword!) and would probably get an A or a B . There are numerous studies which show that students work harder - as a body- than they used to.

My kids are miles away from this yet but the pressure sounds immense. First year of A levels used to be for kicking back and doing other things (at a very academic school) This just sounds awful

This isn't the same as the school in the news at all, though. She isn't being kicked out and she failed. As others have said, why would anyone want to continue to study something they have outright failed? The U suggests she understood none of the content - so how would she plan to turn that round in a matter of months? If you are keen to blame the school and their marking, I would also want her out of that subject! That won't change quickly either!

We have a problem at our school with ASs now the vast majority don't contribute to the full A Level score. Students are being entered and getting Es or Us. They know our policy is to tell them they cannot proceed with a subject they fail. Yet - it's a psychological thing- because the exams 'don't count' (thanks government!)) they don't work all that hard for them (relying solely on what they have done in lessons in many cases with very little revision) and lack the maturity to see the bigger picture. 5 boys at our school now have Us in all 4 subjects they took! In reality OP how committed was your DD to her studies in year 12? is this actually a wake up call?

To the PP who said about resits : most schools would say there is no point if you are pushing on to do full A level as it does not contribute any marks to that. It is a stand alone qualification.

I think if you gain a U it doesn't need to go on UCAS, so it's as if it didn't exist in fact.

What is her chosen FE/ career path? Is that what bothers her and you?

Do you know the exam board she was with? Just because I had my own issues with AQA psychology, with many students doing much worse than anticipated when the results came out. My AQA psych exam was remarked and went up 2 grades.

Really good results at GCSE aren't guarantees of A level results though, unfortunately. A lot of young people find the move to A levels very hard, as you really do have to get your head down and work with A levels, whilst it is possible to get through GCSEs with minimal work. (not that I condone that!)

Also, are you aware that if you get the papers back, you can't have them remarked? (that was the system a few years back at least) if she feels like the exam went ok, it is possible there has been a mistake, or unfair marking.

I'm a bit confused though - the thread title says she's been kicked out of 6th form, the last post implies she can still do 3 subjects (plus the half if she wants)