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Original poster

Can DD drop a GCSE and still get into Uni?

33 replies

BoofTheFloof · 18/02/2022 14:43

Dd 16 has ADHD. It was a late diagnosis at the beginning of lockdown and it took a while to get her medication that worked. The ADHD was diagnosed as she was actually seeing a psychiatrist for depression and self harm which appears to have been triggered by her stress at failing in school and feeling "stupid" and getting into trouble for not focusing in class.
Properly medicated she's now happy and has managed to catch up well in most subjects. Predicted grades range from 8/9 (geography) to a 5/6 (maths) with one exception- history.
History has been a catastrophe for her. There's a huge amount of content being delivered by a very dry teacher (in fairness he provides the children with massive amounts of revision materials etc, but just as big walls of text that she struggles to engage with)
She couldn't engage with online history during lockdown and has failed to catch up. She hates it and it's begun to upset her. I've just spent all day trying to help her gather things for revision and practice for paper 2 and it's a disaster. She's got no sense of how it all fits and very little of what she learnt has stuck (memory is an issue with ADHD) For example she worked for days on her coursework essay and got a 6- we've gone back to the time period she wrote about (the Great Depression and Germany) and she's retained nothing. She was fine writing with the materials in front of her but it hasn't stuck.
I anticipate it's going to take hours and hours just to get her to at best a level 4/5. These are hours she needs to focus on other subjects as well.
I'm thinking of suggesting she drops history and just does 8 GCSE. This is likely to improve a few of her grades in the remaining subjects as history takes a disproportionate amount of time. However she would like to go to university. The school is confident she'll do well in the A level subjects she's picked but would only having 8 GCSEs rule out the better universities? Do they have minimum GCSE requirements?

OP posts:
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Original poster
BoofTheFloof · 18/02/2022 23:56

@clary

Op as others say, it will be fine. If a specific uni looks at GCSEs for a specific course (and I imagine many do not) then they will be looking st grades and possibly subjects (such as the MFL example above) rather than number.

As others say, plenty of schools only offer eight GCSEs anyway - increasingly so.

MN is funny sometimes and to read some sections you would think all children with any ability get 10 X 9 at GCSE. Someone the other day posted saying as her child did not get all 9s (she also got some 8s😯😯) she couldn't apply to Oxford or Durham. Luckily in the real world that's not correct.

Thank you @clary ! DD is at a reasonably academic selective school and it has impacted her mental health. The late ADHD diagnosis meant she spent a few years feeling like a complete failure - she scraped through the entrance exam with the help of a sports scholarship and I think sometimes her perfectly good predicted grades of between 8-5 make her feel somehow stupid which is terrible. She's overcome a lot and is frankly fabulous and I don't want her struggling though something she HATES if she doesn't have to. However I also don't want her to turn round in 3 years time and complain that she can't go somewhere she wants to because of the missing GCSE!

I will speak to her head of year when they're back next week. I'm fairly certain the school will be supportive.

OP posts:
clary · 18/02/2022 23:07

Op as others say, it will be fine. If a specific uni looks at GCSEs for a specific course (and I imagine many do not) then they will be looking st grades and possibly subjects (such as the MFL example above) rather than number.

As others say, plenty of schools only offer eight GCSEs anyway - increasingly so.

MN is funny sometimes and to read some sections you would think all children with any ability get 10 X 9 at GCSE. Someone the other day posted saying as her child did not get all 9s (she also got some 8s😯😯) she couldn't apply to Oxford or Durham. Luckily in the real world that's not correct.

BurbageBrook · 18/02/2022 19:25

Yeah I’d drop it, 100%.

Bonkerz · 18/02/2022 19:00

DS did 5 GCsE. All high grades then did a BTEC and 2 A levels.
He starts uni in sept doing forensic science.

Hercisback · 18/02/2022 18:56

We have a library but no one to supervise. That's why kids get a blanket no.

Susu49 · 18/02/2022 18:56

Fair point

TizerorFizz · 18/02/2022 18:55

It clearly says your GCSEs are considered when the application is assessed. I would imagine course info is specific GCSEs. For example, someone I know did Mechanical Engineering MEng with French. He didn’t need French A level but did need gcse French. I think that’s what course specific info means.

I would also think some less competitive universities might ignore gcse results as they offer to everyone!

Comefromaway · 18/02/2022 18:54

Not all schools have libraries or staff to supervise them.

Susu49 · 18/02/2022 18:52

@Comefromaway

The issue might be what will she do during the time she is timetabled for history. My autistic son dropped Food Tech GCSE but he still had to be in the class for those lessons as there was nowhere else for him to go.
Study time in the library. Surprised they wouldn't permit it!
Comefromaway · 18/02/2022 18:49

Many schools ONLY offer 8 GCSEs.

It is better to get higher grades in a fewer number than lower grades in more.

titchy · 18/02/2022 18:33

That's a very generic statement tizer - it says look to individual course pages for the most up to data requirements.

TizerorFizz · 18/02/2022 18:30

@BoofTheFloof

I don’t think you have looked at the Exeter web site. They do take GCSEs into account. As attached. Exeter is sought after so I’m not surprised. You have to weigh up how much it might matter. 8x8 probably won’t. Or apply somewhere that’s less competitive.

Can DD drop a GCSE and still get into Uni?
thing47 · 18/02/2022 18:29

Oh yes good point @TizerorFizz, but I think it would be GCSE grades rather than volume mostly, wouldn't it?

TizerorFizz · 18/02/2022 18:21

@BoofTheFloof
If Exeter say they take GCSEs into account in their admissions policy, they do. If they don’t mention it, they cannot make decisions based on GCSEs. Some universities say they do. Or the deciding factor is the Personal Statement. However they decide, they must tell applicants how they weight the various elements if they are deciding in that way.

steppemum · 18/02/2022 18:03

[quote Hercisback]@steppemum Why did they say no?

We refuse in our school because we have nowhere for students to go during that lesson.[/quote]
because they think she will be fine.
she masks extremely well in school and they don't see the meltdowns at home, and the struggle with homework becuase she is wiped out.

I wanted to create space for her to do some homework during the day.

But after a long talk to the options teacher, I think they would let her drop the last one if not coping and certainly in year 11.

thing47 · 18/02/2022 18:00

Really most academic qualifications are primarily a facilitator to the next stage so they only become important when they are the final stage you take, whether that's A levels, under-graduate degree, post-graduate degree, professional qualifications etc.

So no, they won't pick the ones with more GCSEs, they'll pick the ones with better A levels. Possibly, just possibly, they'll consider GCSEs, but it will be the grades rather than the number that they'll be interested in.

Hercisback · 18/02/2022 17:58

@steppemum Why did they say no?

We refuse in our school because we have nowhere for students to go during that lesson.

Sideswiped · 18/02/2022 17:57

A sensible and sympathetic school would allow her to drop it and spend time on her other studies. Hopefully they would also allow her to go elsewhere rather than having to still sit in on her history lessons, which sounds possible from what you've said.
I hope you are successful as I think it's likely your DD would benefit.

OnTheBenchOfDoom · 18/02/2022 17:53

For uni purposes it is meant to be that no one category outweighs another. I personally think the personal statement helps them decide if everyone has the same A level results. The PS shows the university their love for their chosen subject, everything they have done outside of the classroom to further their interest.

Oxford were the ones who thought GCSEs were a predictor of future success, whereas Cambridge believed in AS levels which have now gone (in most of England) so they now do admissions tests. Make of that what you will. I think universities only ever look at the best 8 results if they do that at all. Most just want that minimum maths and English grade and to be fair your DD has extenuating circumstances.

I am not sure when the deadline is to register children for their GCSEs with the exam boards but I am sure it is round about now. As school think she can bring up the 6s I would suggest to school that in her History slots she instead works on other subjects but that she drops History. She has Geography so already fills the humanities bucket.

titchy · 18/02/2022 17:52

8 is fine. A levels are the differentiator not GCSEs other than a few medicine courses which look at best 8. The Exeter example will be what they want. They'll offer that to pretty much everyone who applies.

Original poster
BoofTheFloof · 18/02/2022 17:43

@TizerorFizz

Who is “they” asking for grades? UCAS? You don’t have to put down 8 if you don’t have them. They are only taken into account to meet minimum qualification criteria set by the university. That might be maths and English or x number of GCSEs or no minimum number at all. If they use them for selecting applicants, they must say so.,
So for example Exeter wants AAA for business studies and at least a 5 in GCSE maths and English. However, are these minimum requirements? If they get lots of applicants though surely they'll pick the ones with more GCSEs? Or are they saying that as long as you have a 5 at GCSE Maths they don't look at GCSEs any more?
OP posts:
TizerorFizz · 18/02/2022 16:46

Who is “they” asking for grades? UCAS? You don’t have to put down 8 if you don’t have them. They are only taken into account to meet minimum qualification criteria set by the university. That might be maths and English or x number of GCSEs or no minimum number at all. If they use them for selecting applicants, they must say so.,

steppemum · 18/02/2022 16:32

for uni entry they ask for your 8 highest GCSEs

so the 9th one doesn't really matter.

My dd is at grammar school, she has suspected ASD and I really wnat her to do 8 not 9 GCSEs so that she has 2 slots every week where she can do homework within the school day.
School have said no Angry

thing47 · 18/02/2022 16:26

I would definitely ask to drop the history – what a shame, it can be such an interesting subject if it's taught well, but totally dry and uninspiring when it isn't. I don't think you need to worry about the number of GCSEs, it's much more about getting good grades in the ones DD does take.

TizerorFizz · 18/02/2022 15:50

Actually I’m not sure lots of universities ask about numbers of GCSEs. They might well went maths and English but I’m not sure there is a set number of GCSEs required. The most competitive universities will expect to see 8 and might consider them in their admission policies. Courses which are recruiting and need bums on seats might be far less bothered.

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