DS wants to repeat Year 13

He did very well - I certainly wouldn't criticise him at all. 7 is lower than most students and grades are very good but maybe he genuinely finds the work really difficult and this is causing a lack of interest and he is avoiding failure by choosing to ignore deadlines etc. I mean this very very kindly.

Has school agreed to let him come back in September then? Wow!

I think what is meant is that most students will get more than 7 GCSEs (why did he take so few?), and while 4 A grades are very good, they are not amazing, as there’s the A* above them.

He’s not what a sixth form would see as a top student expecting the best grades at A-level, his GCSE grades would put him somewhere more in the middle of an A-level cohort.

So no consequences for his behaviour apart from the loss of gym membership this week, after two years of inertia, and he's still got his phone which you say is the main distraction, OP

He's not going to study anywhere because he has no motivation. You really should think about directing him towards employment now. I can see that you are angry about what has happened OP, but you could have taken steps to sort this so much sooner than right before the one exam he is taking.

I used to work in a sixth form college and while the GCSE grades were very good, he has seven and three were b and c grades. Usually candidates with results like that have to work incredibly hard to achieve decent A Levels

My DS left school after GCSEs tk ho to college but hated it and wanted to go back to school to do A levels. He wasn't the best student so I really didn't think the school would take him back but they did. They treated him like a new student and made him interview for a place in 6th form. He is now coming to the end of yr 12 and has just turned 18. His friends are all doing their A levels but he's a year behind them. It's been the best thing he ever did. He realised he made a mistake and he's grateful to school for a second chance. Maybe your DS might recognise a second chance too.

user20 it does sound like he is phone addicted - I can see how that happens, but you could have taken it away from him, he is living the life he is with no consequence. This isn’t ok regardless of him being an adult or not.

My eldest DS repeated year 12, he didn’t miss school, he just did not try in year 11/12 at all. He realised that he was failing himself and did really well in his repeated year.

I do feel responsible as I had two much younger children and was working full time, I probably took my eye off the ball with him - they are vulnerable at this age, on the cusp of adulthood but really not emotionally mature to understand that they are making decisions that impact on the rest of their life. It’s a delicate balance as a parent.

Good luck!

My DS sounds similar, he dropped out completely last January in year 13 and was quite down so I didn't push him. He did have a part time job that time upped to full time hours and paid me rent money. He saved the rest of his earnings and took home self of to Aus for a 'gap' year this feb. He is now currently working over there after 2 month long holiday where he spent all his money.

I don't know what the future holds for him when he returns to the UK next year with only good GCSE results behind him, but I hope the year in Australia having to stand on his own 2 feet will have made a change in him and he will have grown up and come back with some sort of focus with where he is headed in life.

He should definitely ask.

I was your son 10 years ago, I massively regret now not asking to resit a year. A levels are extremely expensive and difficult to dive back into. Of course there are other options if the school say no but I would certainly suggest he enquires now.

It's not as though it will be fun and the easy option, he will be in a different year group away from his peers and starting again, the only way he will stick to it is if he is determined.

How could me and DH take his phone off him really?
Well you pay the bill so of course you could take it off him!

It kind of sounds like the best thing would have been for the school to kick him out in Year 12. That way, he might have had the wake up call and he'd still be able to start again on a more appropriate/interesting course or get his act together and start the A Levels again.

I guess it's as it is so that kids can't just be eternal Key Stage 5 students - I teach one or two who would like to be

user20 - it's not as simple as that.

A Levels are funded as long as the student starts them in the year they turn 19 (thought the funding drops a bit) but not if that student already has Level 3 qualifications.

I run a 6th form course and have a girl in Year 12 who is already 19 - she will be 20 when she finishes the course. She will be funded throughout but she didn't have A Levels (or equivalent) I also have 2 in Year 13 who are a year older than they "should" be, but they started 6th form elsewhere and dropped out before the end of Year 12. Therefore they don't have any Level 3 qualifications and the funding was available.

Hope that makes sense. What that potentially means for your DS is that because he has completed year 13 and taken the A Level, he may not be eligible for any further funding. Check with the school - they will know how their funding works. He certainly won't be able to enrol on a college course because he will have completed 6th form.

The issue with school may well be funding. 6th form funding is only available if the student in question has not already completed Level 3 (ie A Levels or equivalent) qualifications so he may not be eligible anyway. By all means speak to the school but bear in mind that starting Year 12 again to do a vocational course at a college is unlikely to be an option because he has already completed 2 years of KS5 education. It's not as simple as wanting to do another year and therefore being allowed to do so.

If he does actually want to earn and has a genuine interest in ICT then the network support industry are crying out for staff. An apprenticeship in that area would be worth investigating. He's got the GCSEs to get onto most apprenticeships I'd think.

You need really good careers advice from an unbiased and knowledgeable source asap.

As a sixth form teacher, I'm afraid those GCSE scores wouldn't have suggested he'd find A-level easy even if he had worked. He may well be lacking in the study skills if he didn't work hard at GCSE and doing well at A-level requires the understanding that it's a big step up.

Anyway, get unbiased advice if you can. Not just from the school.