Anyone else child failed their GCSE's??

To be honest OP, and please don't jump on me everyone, those two subjects (RE & Eng.Lit.) barely matter in the scheme of things. They are also subjects that require a lot of writing and in the case of Eng.Lit, memorising (thank you Mr.Gove). Maybe those are areas your DS needs to work on? He has a whole year to improve his skills. I don't really understand why a school would enter students a year early for those particular subjects. Maybe to clear the deck for the subjects that 'really matter'? Whatever the reason, please re-assure your DS that a lower grade those subjects will make no difference to his chance of going to college unless they were the ones he wanted to study at A level. There is a reason these exams are meant to be taken in year 11 and given another year of study his results may have been quite different.

Why would he sit them early?
Makes no sense.
Better to
Drop some subjects and focus on fewer gcses in year 11.

Dayofdoom that's appalling behaviour by her school. I bet you were seething. Sounds like the college is great and will support your DD going onwards and upwards.

My son did worse than expected. Math teacher said he was borderline so hoping it will be marked up. He got both English. He really only needed English and math for his apprenticeship course at college and there’s a facility to resit. So it hasn’t changed what’s going to happen but he’s done far worse than any of his mates - totally his own fault he just didn’t do enough work and was overconfident! Private school though you’d think they’d be able to almost guarantee 4s no matter how much individual revision!
As far as I recall he does two class days and one or two work experience days a week so there’s room for time tabling classes or get a second job!

In my opinion, your son's school has let him down by entering him for two subjects a year early; especially subjects like RS and English Literature where a year's extra maturity would have helped boost his grade.
The only failure here is theirs.

RE and English lit failures are not the end of the world.
Next year he will have way more support, more revision, more after school sessions, more mocks.
A great deal can happen in a year 😊

If he doesn't get his results, then yes, he can still go to college, and he can take an apprenticeship. He may have to go in at a lower level, but he can still progress on.

Total fail here. Dd has learning difficulties and has had a shit time recently in school. School were predicting her 5s and 6s which were massively unrealistic in my opinion. I even queried it.

School have handled it really Shitly imo. A teacher encouraged her to stay for sixth form. School advertise that no matter what your GCSEs there's something for you.
New head basically told her this morning actually no it wasn't fair on the others for her to stay there academically despite her passing her BTEC and having merit and distinction and only wanting to do the next level. Told her she couldn't retake her Maths and English. Told her to go and see careers officer. Senco no where in sight. No support for a child upset they haven't got what they wanted.

Luckily she had applied elsewhere and they have been bloody brilliant.
Enrolled at college and all sorted.
Schools response felt like the last fuck you of any remaining confidence she had. I'm glad she didn't get in there tbh.

OP - Sorry to hear about your son. He probably never should have been entered. One thought I had was whether his autism has affected his grade. By this I mean that some people with autism (and I have taught quite a few now) have difficulty in doing what the exam questions ask in the right way. So even though they have the knowledge and intelligence to pass, they don't score well on the marking scheme. If this could be a problem, it would be good to get your DS specific help before next year.

Thank you @LynetteScavo, that's really helpful. I recall him saying his L3 course was only 2.5 days/week.

If it helps at all, my brother has SEN, failed all of his GCSE's, went to college to do a vocational course, later decided to do an access course, went to uni, got a first and has just finished his masters. Took him a bit longer to get there but the point is failing GCSEs really is not the end of the world.

@slingthegin I think with the level 2 course they only go to college two days, so they have three days for retakes....but I bet they only have to go in for a day, so will probably have only 3 days in college .

Sometimes, having to do an extra year, or go in to a course at a lower level, or even change your intended path altogether, can be a positive thing.

It shows that there is more than one way to get to where you want, that it’s OK to change your mind, can build resilience and sometimes is a blessing in disguise.

There are courses these students may not have thought of, opportunities they might not have considered, particularly in vocational terms. Maybe a door has closed. Others will open.

My DS didn't do well. Not totally unexpected. Best results were 2 level 4s and he will have to retake English and Maths which he thought he was secure on (3s in both).

He had a level 3 course lined up but I'm guessing he'll be looking at level 2 foundation course.

College enrolment is tomorrow. My only concern is what the workload will be on a level 2 course with two resits. Anyone know?

My son failed some we expected him to pass, but passed others we expected him to fail. His results are bizarre for his strengths! He is over the moon with them and although he didnt get on to his first choice college course, he has enrolled on the level 2 course which is an extra year and to resit his maths. Im proud of him, but still very baffled at his results!

I failed all mine..... i was fine dont hang everthin on exam results

To be honest those two subjects aren't that important unless he wants to work within a religious community or a English teacher or something? Everyone needs knowledge and to understand and be aware of the wider world - but they don't necessarily need to have a grade or certificate in it. Does he have any idea what he would like to do in his life after school? If yes then he needs to focus on just those subjects that are relevant to the next stage. Generally all colleges/jobs want Maths and English (language not lit) so they are important but how many of the rest of his subjects actually are to get to his final goal. English lit and RE are a lot of analysing and personal interpretation rather than facts. Maybe he would be better at subjects that are facts. Or practical subjects that are more about doing.

My son is about to start year 10 and I couldn't believe how many exams he will be sitting in 2 years time. I think there are far too many for a lot of children. Surely he would have been better of only doing 5 GCSE's instead of sitting some early.

I failed all but one of my GCSEs back in the late 1980s ( when they first came out) I eventually went back to college in my 20s and University at 30. Now have a decent job- point being there is life after failed exams. I still hate exams!

Was the aim to give his less work/exams next year?

Sorry to hear he’s not done well. In my opinion the schools has failed him. He shouldn’t have sat the exams a year early- many pupils don’t have the maturity to sit early and it often results in low grades

Disclaimer - I'm Scottish and a lot of this talk about GCSEs is like a foreign language to me.

However, why on earth would a school take a child who has additional needs, has a helper in classes and put him through exams a year before he has to? Where's the benefit? And why as a parent did you agree to this?

What was the school’s thinking in entering him early?