GCSE computer science: Daughter was refused a place

Inaccurate, though - any external GCSE exam passes (or fails) are added to the school's progress measures, as are things like music, dance or drama grades.

While each school has a sixth form they pool together all the sixth forms in city and transfer between to offer range of A-level - and while other schools have potentially diverse enough offer range to avoid transferring for lessons DC school never has yet from years I've seen..

DD1 school wasn't one offering A-level history that year and seemed disinterested in helping - they were missing key personnel at time - we directly contacted school offering A-level history and it was a flat no from them with no history GCSE.

DD1 preferred college anyway - it's a huge regional one with multiple campuses - they weren't keen then finally said no though they were at start of process of group into subject areas and encouraging selection in those areas and rest of her A-levels were science based - so she choose another subject from that subject stream.

The did at least offer History as an option at GCSE and not enough kids chose it that year another standard subject and that department weren't allowed to even offer that year - they asked parents to complain and I know at least one family then looked at transferring schools because of it.

There wasn't a history department but a humanities one and in earlier years kids her year had been taught history by geography and RS teachers - still a bit of a surprise there weren't enough to run History GCSE course. Next child is two school year behind and did History GCSE and had a full class of 32. Youngest is current GCSE and her mates have taken history - passed text books on to them and they have full class.

So yes weird cohort year and perhaps unlucky that year with places offering history A-level here. It was a bit disappointing for her. She ended ended up in area she's very happy with - it has lab work so science background is still useful despite area being history related.

I only mentioned it so OP can double check in her area not having GCSE computer science isn't an issue for A-level- it's not here but not everywhere is the same.

I’d bet my house on many of the selected students wanting to drop it come September when they realise how dry and hard the subject is. Ask for her to be put on a reserve list.

Give over. It would be far more unfair to lose your place after a random allocation to another pupil because she's a girl.

I would suggest doing some independent learning like iDEA course and even the BBC bute sized one. My friends daughter wanted to study Maths at Cambridge, her school didn’t offer Applied Mathematics so she taught herself (alongside her highers) and got an A in the exam. Her school did what they could to support her.

There were limited spaces and her parents reminded her that she was from a small state school and was up against the best educations money could buy (applicants were from Eton etc). When they learned about her teaching herself a full course and passing with such a high mark they were blown away. She was accepted due to her work ethic.

If your daughter can say she wasn’t able to get accepted to the class but has done x and y self led learning it will open doors for her.

History A level should be available without the GCSE - especially if a,student was interested and wanted to take GCSE.

Did they really not offer GCSE history? How small was the school? Its always been v popular at schools I have worked in.

If they restricted history A level to those who had done GCSE and they hadn't offered the GCSE then I'm.guessing history A level take up was low 🙄

Surely the main point is she is going to have to pick a GCSE she might not enjoy for numbers if she can't do what she enjoys and is good at?

She can still do Computer Science, you only need A level maths if she did it at university. The best option is to try out a code club (free) and the lessons start at an easy level and then advance. Just so you know not all code clubs in my area are listed on the site so worth asking around. https://codeclub.org/en/ Try your local library as they may have coding opportunities and they most probably have children's and adult's books on coding. Start with Python, as there are lots of easy projects for kids. It's all free nothing stopping you except time. My son is doing A level Computer science and most of his skills he has self taught after doing the code club lessons, and then trying out various projects and using free online guides, library books and YouTube to learn how to code.

Is there any way you can enable her to take it out of school? Is there another school locally that you could talk to about her either moving there or taking it there? It's a faff but if she is really going to get a decent mark in it this could really affect her confidence. If I were you I'd be looking into taking it somewhere else and then flout it in the school's face they can't use it for their league results. petty I know

CS GCSE can be quite dull and the shortage of CS teachers means the quality of teaching can be patchy and/or disrupted by resignations etc. Certainly my DC found this at their otherwise decent school. So focusing on beefing up maths skills in the lead up to A levels, together with out-of-school activity, might prove to have been a better option.

It might be worthwhile checking that not being allowed to take CS GCSE does not inadvertently disadvantage your DD if she looks to take CS A level at their your school (assuming it has a sixth form). At my DCs' comp, there was a minimum Maths GCSE grade required, though this was lowered if you had a higher CS GCSE grade.

There are various CS-relates online courses and initiatives aimed at female students and your DD should research and apply for these; they are designed specifically to tackle the male:female imbalance in the CS sector. Some simple google research will unearth these pretty quickly.

What are they giving her instead? Something she likes or something that she doesn't but just happens to be capable of getting high grades at?

There are often kids dropping out in the first half term because they've decided they don't want to do a subject anymore (even if they originally chose it) so it's worthwhile keeping on asking.

I would have a discussion about how 'fairness' isn't only provided for by random selection, as it can't allow for additional barriers that certain groups experience. It's the equal or equitable argument - treating everybody the same doesn't necessarily treat them all fairly - but in all, there's a good chance she'll be able to switch, especially if she's got something she hates like sociology or business studies.

It is a very dull GCSE. Most people who go on to take CS at uni in whatever form don't do it at GCSE. It is basic and does not encourage creativity at all.

If she wants to do the subject at degree level, maths is the most important subject to have a good grasp of.

I don't think your DC know anything , except social media gossip

How does random allocation benefit boys?

At my DC school everyone who wanted to do it got to do it - you needed a predicted 6 in maths but they may have been flexible.
Around 50 are doing it - approx 42 boys and 8 girls.

Some sort of random selection seems fairest, unless they do what one school I worked in did: pupils listed their GCSE choices in order of preference. In that case, the places would have gone to those who had put it highest up their preference list. (It also meant that if only a few pupils opted for a subject, the decision on whether to run it might rest on whether they'd all put it near the top or near the bottom of their list. They organised the option blocks around the students' choices, rather than setting them in advance.)

I think we have moved on from when I was at school - we were the first year where everyone could choose between CDT, art and home economics, instead of boys doing CDT and girls HomeEc. However when we got to our first CDT lesson, it became clear that all girls present had either refused to put a second choice, or had parents who had written letters emphasising their wish to do CDT. We were all put in woodwork rather than metalwork, too.

They didn't run History GCSE at all?!

You don't need GCSE CS for A level CS or even for a CS degree. At that level they are looking for maths.

This DS school only offered ICT which we steered him away from - but he didn't need it for A-Level CS nor for degree course he's now looking at.

I'd ask about waiting list - what else has she been offered.

DC school it was pick 5 you'd be happy at and order them in preference. DD1 didn't get History because not enough people picked it so it didn't run- she did Drama instead did well enjoyed it. Unfortunately couldn't take A-level history due to lack of GCSE - but still ended up studying a history related subject at university.

Out of curiosity which comments do you consider not nice???

I'd say the 'sexism rubbish' one was unpleasant, and unjustified.

The fact that in mixed schools, very few girls do subjects such as CS and physics whereas all girls' schools will have healthy numbers wanting to do them (my DDs school had 2 sets for gcse CS) is surely due to societal sexism.

I agree OP.

This country has a huge problem of lack of women working in STEM. The school should have prioritised your daughter’s application over boys.

Consider writing to the head, and if no joy, this organisation: https://www.womeninstem.co.uk/about-women-stem/

The school’s random allocation system isn’t fair, it statistically benefits boys over girls.

Out of curiosity which comments do you consider not nice??? You’ve had pretty fair replies on here.

Sorry but random selection is the fairest way. My ds2 missed out on doing creative imedia 2 years ago. It happens quite a lot I think.

Move to a school that can accommodate her, if it’s CS she wishes to do at uni in the future u don’t need CS gcse or A’Level it’s maths.

If selected randomly by computer and there was a very uneven split between boys and girls applying it stands to reason statistically more boys will get in.

You other option is to see if there any other secondary schools locally with spaces who can offer the GCSEs CS and switch schools.