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Original poster

Dropping GCSE language advice

37 replies

Abracadabra399 · 03/06/2025 07:06

My 15 yo DC is in year 10. She’s doing ok academically - she has never loved school and is being assessed for ADHD and anxiety but she does her homework and is predicted grades 5-6 with maybe more for maths and science. She’s a good kid and pretty sensitive.

But she is and has always been hopeless at French and it is getting her down to the point where she’s getting stomach pains in the morning and not wanting to go in. The school insisted on including a language GCSE choice and I’ve tried to help her but after almost four years of lessons she can barely get past Je m’appelle. She has always struggled with learning and recognising the words and if she has to repeat back a word she hears it’s unrecognisable. Despite trying she got 15% in last test.

So it’s making her anxious and she is going to get a poor grade and my notions of having a bilingual kid and us all decamping to Cannes have gone :) Her school is obsessed with kids achieving a language GCSE as I think they have some sort of baccalaureate quota they parade.

I pointed out to the French teacher that this is pointless as she isn’t going to get a good grade and isn’t learning any French so why not spend the time on one of her other nine GCSEs. The teacher is adamant that she will be streamed with the standard paper and “drilled to get a pass” and that achieving baccalaureate standard is important. French teacher tried to present this as a great life lesson about sticking at something even if you’re no good at it, which I think we have more than given a go. I also fundamentally think it’s a bit pointless to be drilled to try and scrape a pass in a language if you are not going to be able to order a loaf of bread at the bakery or ask where the post office is at the end of it which may be colouring my judgement!!

I’d love some advice please on whether (and how) I ask again for her to drop it - she is begging me every day to do this. Or whether the French teacher is right and she should suck it up and try and work hard enough to get a pass?

OP posts:
Koalafan · 03/06/2025 07:58

I take it French is the only option?
I ask because I hated it with a passion at school - luckily we weren't forced to study it, but I've dince discovered a love for German (a much more logical language)! It really does sound like they just want her to take it for their sake and not hers, and I'd be inclined to just ignore it at home/study time and tell her to do bare minimum in class. I feel for her, and you.

arethereanyleftatall · 03/06/2025 07:54

I tried to do this for my DD too, but the school said no and that it wasn’t my decision, it was theirs. So she just stopped doing any work in it. She’s doing it as gcse now, this week in fact, and is actually quite happy to be doing it. She’s done absokutely no extra work for it at all, no revision, but thinks she’ll get a 6/7 anyway. Grammar school so it’s for their ‘100% of our pupils get 10GCSEs at 7 or above’ marketing as that’s all they’re interested in.

Original poster
Abracadabra399 · 03/06/2025 07:54

Clearinguptheclutter · 03/06/2025 07:13

I’m a former mfl teacher and that’s ridiculous
it’s true that if she passes it will help their ebacc score but it won’t at all if she fails and possibly to the detriment of her other subjects

some kids really struggle with mfl. Aty kids’ school it’s compulsory but in fact they do let a few kids off every year because it’s such a strugggle

I’d try and escalate it with the school, if all else fails then just tell your dd to concentrate on other subjects and just not worry about it.

Thanks for advice, I’m going to ask…

OP posts:
Original poster
Abracadabra399 · 03/06/2025 07:53

TheNightingalesStarling · 03/06/2025 07:08

They want her to study French for their own statistics rather than her own benefit

They also want her in lessons so they don't have to supervise her elsewhere

Edited

Exactly this! Zero learning or sense about it.

OP posts:
Original poster
Abracadabra399 · 03/06/2025 07:52

SwayingInTime · 03/06/2025 07:49

What are the consequences of not turing up to the exams? I wish I hadn't sent DD2 in for hers as it's dragged her average score down so much that sixth form college have lower expectations of her than they should for A Level grades (I stupidly assumed they used the corresponding GCSE to work out expected A Level grades - maybe some schools do?).

Oh that’s interesting! I hadn’t thought that the average score from GCSEs might be a thing. Her school doesn’t automatically allow students to stay for sixth form and has quite high grade requirements so there is a possibility she has to decamp to a sixth form college. God knows re not turning up to exams - I’m sure the school would claim there would be consequences but in reality what could they do? Make it harder for her to stay at sixth form? Charge for paper? I don’t know…

OP posts:
CandleMeltAway · 03/06/2025 07:51

@clary thought you could weigh in on this.

It can now be a timetabling issue. If she isn't in French where could she go instead? Is there any sort of room for quiet time usually used for children with SEN to decompress? I would possibly also try to speak to SENDCo at the school too.

She doesn't have to apply herself in this subject if she doesn't want to. You can lead a horse to water and all that. Although to be fair to the teacher MFL seems to be the one everyone talks about dropping. Mine used a language app with specific GCSE content to learn their language.

SwayingInTime · 03/06/2025 07:49

What are the consequences of not turing up to the exams? I wish I hadn't sent DD2 in for hers as it's dragged her average score down so much that sixth form college have lower expectations of her than they should for A Level grades (I stupidly assumed they used the corresponding GCSE to work out expected A Level grades - maybe some schools do?).

Octavia64 · 03/06/2025 07:26

She should stop working on it.

my child was similar. The teachers eventually accepted that they couldn’t drill him, it just didn’t work.

schools are usually reluctant to let students drop GCSEs as someone needs to supervise the students during that time, but many schools run extra English and maths support during MFL time - you could ask if there is something like that she could transfer into? Or by year 10 my son was allowed to sit in the SEN centre and just do his homework.

if it is making her so anxious that she is struggling to get into school you can say that she is starting to get into ebsa. This stands for emotionally based school avoidance and there is government guidance on this which includes offering a part time timetable.

Clearinguptheclutter · 03/06/2025 07:13

I’m a former mfl teacher and that’s ridiculous
it’s true that if she passes it will help their ebacc score but it won’t at all if she fails and possibly to the detriment of her other subjects

some kids really struggle with mfl. Aty kids’ school it’s compulsory but in fact they do let a few kids off every year because it’s such a strugggle

I’d try and escalate it with the school, if all else fails then just tell your dd to concentrate on other subjects and just not worry about it.

TooManyCupsAndMugs · 03/06/2025 07:13

It's very difficult to drop a subject in Year 10 - where would that child go during lessons, who is going to supervise them in that time? Best everyone just gets on board with her not doing very well in the exam and she just coasts along in class (this happens plenty - I'm an MFL teacher!)

TheaBrandt1 · 03/06/2025 07:10

Schools age very reluctant to let kids drop subjects. Guess they think if they let one do it everyone will then want to drop the subject they don’t fancy. I don’t know of any pupil in my dds state who were allowed to drop a subject. Maybe it’s different at a private school

TheNightingalesStarling · 03/06/2025 07:08

They want her to study French for their own statistics rather than her own benefit

They also want her in lessons so they don't have to supervise her elsewhere