LA is bulling me to put daughter in lower year

@NinaKKjones - when we moved from England to Scotland, my eldest son was in Year 10 - we moved at the end of April, so he was over half way through the first year of his GCSEs.

We talked to him, and to the school up here, and made the decision to put him back a year. Scotland has a different exam system with its own syllabus, and if he had gone into the right year for his age, he would have had a LOT of work to catch up, and it made sense for him to start the Standard Grades syllabus from the beginning, with the lower year group.

I can honestly say that we have NEVER regretted it. He got some extra time to mature before doing his exams, and we are sure that he did better in the exams because of the extra time he had. It has also stood him in good stead since then - he worked hard at university, and got a good degree and a good job at the end of it. I think he also benefited from being one of the oldest in his year.

If your child goes into Year 9, they will get to study the GCSE syllabus from the beginning, instead of having to try to catch up with a lot of work. If they have already learned some of the work (as my son had - even though it was a different syllabus, some of it was the same - maths, for example, and sciences), going over it again will reinforce the learning and they may well do even better than they would have done without going back a year. Plus, as the oldest/one of the oldest in the year, they will be more mature, and I'd have thought they'd be a shoo-in for things like being a prefect, which is great experience and can look good on a CV.

ChicCroissant
It has echoes of it with the forced moves and so on. If I remember correctly on that thread the various moves weren't forced and the OP didn't get the responses they wanted.

I think the OP on this thread is better looking at 14-16 provision in an FE college.

It would make sense it was her old school, hence the phrase "public humiliation" if it was a new school no one would know her.

So it seems the school is deeming she's not educationally in a position to join year ten or eleven and it would benefit her to start in year nine. Maybe they are prioritising that over what her mates will think.

That's the one I was thinking of too LolaSmiles. Probably missed year 10 then and not year 9 as I said originally. But she has been out of school for at least a year.

Is this the school that she was attending before you moved, OP?

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Who says they are acting unreasonably? Other than the op? They may have very good reason for her to start in year nine.

Sorry - The Coram Children’s Legal Centre!

I suggest you contact The Coram Children’s Centre to see if your DD could seek judicial review (High Court Action) against the Local Authority, because they are acting unreasonably? Ask them if she would be eligible for legal aid?

Cross posted with ChicCroissant
You're not the poster who moved to Wales, DD didnt like the school, then moved back to the original area but couldn't get a school place are you?

There were certainly a few students at my secondary school who due to relocation ended up starting in year 9 or 10, when they should have been in year 10 or 11. They were usually considered very cool. One of them is now a doctor. It definitely did him no harm.

Why do they wish her to repeat year nine? Have they explained?

I would imagine that this case is more complex than the details in your OP.

I've never heard of schools forcing students into younger year groups.

The more pressing issue is that she hasn't studied year 10 in full now and will be seeking entry to a school at the start of Year 11 and having to learn new content and new specs in under a year.

You could try looking at the 14-16 department of a local FE college as an option.

I can't help but feel this situation is probably much more complex than an LA randomly deciding they will push a student down a year.

So there is only one secondary school locally? Is her name on the waiting list at any other schools?
I have no experience of being offered a place in the year below but, unless there's a back story, that doesn't sound right at all.

I think you may have posted about this before but from a different angle, unable to get your DD a place?

Is it due to the subjects she'll need to take for exams? Some schools start the subjects in year 9 because they take one or two exams early in year 10.

If you are the poster I'm thinking of, hasn't your DD missed year 9 anyway?