DS wants to repeat Year 13

People can be intelligent just not good at alevels. It is very specific only 3 subjects in a lot of boring detail, if you are not great at learning /remembering so much. Or dealing with the freedom of free lessons.
The fact he dropped the harder sciences etc suggests he doesnt like to work that hard. Possibly stressful. Easier to think, well i didnt try/go to the lessons.
Each stage of education is very different and people are not always equally good at each. (My dc is goid at learning to read but may not be good at comprehension or writing creatively. The alevel skills are specific to subjects.
A friend got 8As and aB but still only got ABC alevels. When picking subjects you cannot understand the work needed as you havent covered it.
I think that's why 5AS was a good idea as you can drop them after a term or two keeping what you prefer.
Personality is probably a huge factor in achievement and i wpuldnt underestimate the difference sen make. As someone could be really averse to the classroom or easier to become addicted to the phone. Or orgsnise themselves.
It is easier to misread how hard alevels will be if you did get some As at gcse.
Olevels were actually for maths like ASlevel so we have to get to that level and that AS level would have given a better idea of aptitude.
Making gcse so easy isnt helping really as it leads to wrong choices/overconfidence etc.

in my opinion - he is intelligent

What does that mean?

In academic terms intelligence is a factor of how much you have learned and it doesn't sound like he has learned very much academically.

Maybe you are holding onto dreams of what he was like when he was younger, or what you hoped for him in the future. But things wont get better until you start dealing with reality!

A few years working will be invaluable for him and he will have time to mature and work out what he is really willing to do to achieve any goals. Maybe support that?

OP apart from the tantrums about failing is there any evidence what so ever that given another 1 or 2 years to do A-Levels he would actually knuckle down and study his ass off?

Having read the whole thread there seems to be no evidence of this what so ever. He wants to doss about for another year or two then go to uni and doss around for another 3/4 years.

He didn't get great GCSEs, he has failed relatively easy A-level subjects, he is not academically bright and needs a reality check not molly coddling.

Funding aside the school would be mad to allow him to repeat A-levels. His failed grades will hit their performance stats, why would they let that happen twice?

i told my dc next year will be the last year we are trying, if dc fails in first year of btec, then we have to look for apprentices, etc.

you can tell him he can use this experience for a better one.
btec is a good choice i think with grades equivalent to a levels.
and he will have new peers there.
the system there could be more suitable for him, eg, regular tests, assignments, not leaving them to the end of terms like in a levels, etc.

Possibly the schools just take the funding hit if the child has proven to get good results. Ie in the case of med student? Because the school can then claim the results.
I imagine £4000 vs a student capable of A's. And effectively the student extra actually costs £0 almost as they are paying for the teacher anyway etc. So just photocopying and paper etc.
The adult education for Alevelsused to be really cheap but went up dramatically. Not only that round here the choices are very limited for evenings etc.

My second dd has dyslexia and her first year at sixth form was looking quite dodgy. I intervened, we made a plan and she changed her subjects and did fabulously. Some children need you to parent them for them to achieve.

@user20 My DS dropped out of Alevels (all As and Bs at GCSE) and then did an Engineering BTEC Extended diploma. He had 3 unconditional offers from unis, (which he turned down and accepted for a conditional offer) They do ask for DDM (distinction distinction merit) so he will have to actually work rather than cruise and pass, but there won't be the pressure of final exams or nothing.

Initially I was nervous about DS attending FE college rather than school, but he loved it. I think it's worth contacting local colleges to ask.

Good Grief Op.

Of course his SEN are relevant.

All of those are relevant in different ways.

You are very punitive towards your son: angry, talk of packing his bags, but you have not done anything to help him manage his time spent in his phone, and despite the many meetings at school you seem to have delved very little into what is going on and why. For example you could have thought about him repeating yr 12 or looked into options earlier.

You say he is in tears about this and talks of killing himself and yet you say he is not depressed or emotionally disturbed.

@cantkeepawayforever - it wouldn't be free but he could get a government-funded Advanced Learner Loan to help pay tuition fees. It’s available to people over 19 years old, studying courses at Levels 3 to 6. he might only need it for the second year if he fails the exam he's done this summer.

My son's friend did an Engineering BTEC, passed the course then decided he'd rather do another subject. I can't imagine his parents funding the second BTEC, but took it, did well and is now off to uni to study that subject further. I am quite curious as to how he managed to take the second course but don't like to ask!

user20 yes universities accept BTECs as A Level equivalents. All 10 of my current yr 13s have offers for university and all have a BTEC Extended Diploma.

Still doesn’t get round the funding issue though.

so would a uni actually accept a btec extended diploma since it's worth 3 a levels? I thought they'd turn their noses up at it

So you, as a super-involved parent, didn't even bother to look at university websites with him.

Fuck me you've been lax.

And your son's MH issues are immensely relevant. They're the reason you're in this place now, along with your lack of involvement.

Of course they are relevant!

How can you not know whether your DS has been transfer from a statement to an EHCP? Do you not attend annual reviews? Do you not have a copy of it?

I will have to tighten up at home. He will be told to pack his bags if he messes about again.

I don't think this the best response to someone who clearly needs support.

I agree there is a big gap between GCSE and A level which takes some unawares.
Btec
GNVQ
City and Guilds
Apprenticeships

Sounds like one of these might suit your son better at this stage. Apprenticeships can vary widely in quality so research them thoroughly.

Apologies for derailing the thread, but one of DD's peers at 6th form went to a 6th form college where she took 3 A levels. She then decided that she wanted to do medicine, so she went to DD's 6th form at 18 (she had been a pupil there until GCSEs). How would this have been funded as she already had 3 very good A levels (but the wrong ones for medicine)?

This at an extremely underfunded school.

Im wondering what his predictions were.
I agree with others that gcses would have been inflated by taking fewer subjects than other students.
I think students should be told if say they only get a B at gcse in a sunject they will only get a max of B at alevel if not lower as they are harder. With gcse a being say 70+ but alevel 80+.
However i did go back as a mature student and get an A while working FT despite only getting c-d at alevel it is a lot about taking the right subjects for you.

Cant, OP said her DS has a statement, in England (numbered maths/English GCSEs) they should have been transferred by now so I suspect they mean an EHCP, though OP hasn't answered my PP. EHCPs can be until 25.