DD messed up AS levels. Advice needed.

[Cakeonthefloor]

My daughter did really well in her gcses (8s and 9s). She moved to a new school to do chemistry, maths and economics a-levels. She has struggled to motivate herself to study and has got 3 Es in her AS. She has a retake in a few weeks as she needs D grades to continue to A-level. She doesn't know what to do. She could repeat the year, leave with an AS level and teach herself the final A-level year and take the exam at a college. She could drop an a-level and concentrate on 2 and try and get a nhs or police apprenticeship. She could switch subjects but they were her favourites. She could try and get an apprenticeship but she needs a-levels for any she is interested in. She has asked me to post this as she is desperate for advice or similar stories. Thanks for reading.

The school would be breaking the law if they refused to let her back or made her go back a year, they can have a conversation with her about whether they feel she will manage A levels and suggest alternatives but if she decides she wants to really focus and push through and complete her A levels, legally they have to allow it. This article explain it and this is what a government representative said in it:

"Government rules state it is unlawful to exclude students over academic attainment. A Department for Education spokesperson confirmed that any off-rolling on the basis of academic results “is quite simply breaking the law”, adding that the department will be speaking to the school directly"

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/students-unlawfully-kicked-out-after-missing-minimum-grades/

She went to school but always says she doesn't learn anything there. She learns it at home.

What @noblegiraffe said! Or else restart 6th form with easier subjects.

I teach Economics and it's easier to do well in than Maths and Chemistry (I can say that on here, although not in real life). But it was a brand new subject - that requires serious effort in year 12 to master. Especially when you've also got a new school environment to get the hang of.

Why did she change school?

Also - OP - have you been into the school? Are you logged on to whatever online system they use? You and DD need a much better grasp of how her courses are assessed. She won't be doing AS if she's got results already. There will have been warning signs she was working at an E (test results, essay marks, progress grades, parents' evening).

I'm not saying staying on is right for her, I'm just saying she doesn't have to rule it out.

She needs to sit down and think about what she wants and whether she is motivated to turn her results around or whether she needs to restart somewhere else, doing something different.

Children who sail through GCSEs with minimal effort often crash and burn in Y12 as they have no good study skills and habits, and A levels are so much more demanding. Ones I know who have succeeded have observed their peers who do have such skills and habits and follow their example. The improvement can be spectacular.

There are many Level 3 Apprenticeships (A level equivalent), that only require GCSEs. Enrolling on one of those might be better for your daughter, and teach her some application and self-discipline.

That is really useful. The school is very clear they will not let her do a-levels. In fact, they said they had no choice, if she doesn't get Ds.

Yeap that is the school trying to protect their league table results, our local school also does it, although they have a lower expectation of E's being acceptable for moving on and I believe the local Grammar expects c/d across the board- they tell parents they can't be flexible on it, but that's an outright lie.

If we think a student is going to leave at the end of two years with nothing, then we will encourage them to find an alternative.

Is it a private school? Because state funding can be extended to three years allowing her to restart A levels.

If current school won't let her do full A levels and the 'repeat year' is just for AS, then I would look at moving her somewhere else. Are there any sixth form/FE colleges near you?

She may have done the AS content this year but the actual public exams will be next year. The year 2 material is harder though and builds on year 1...

Do you know what boards she's doing? Has she got a decent textbook for each subject and a CGP or Hodder revision guide for each one? Has she downloaded the specifications?

Whether she's going to continue or change, it would be good to be on top of what she's supposed to know so you can make a joint decision on whether she can get up to D and succeed next year (worth working back from university intentions and what grades are needed for those - school may have a subscription to a site such as Unifrog to help with that), or if she's going to start over.

She changed schools as we moved house. It was at parents evening I was informed that she had got Es. My nieces and nephews are doing A-levels in another part of Britain which do AS-levels which is why I assumed her recent exams were AS levels. She wants to resit the year and do a-levels but she can't at her school. If she moves to a college can she resit the two years?

The school sound awful. No concern for your daughter. I would look at a clean sheet somewhere else. A sixth form college might suit her better.

All communication with the school is online and timed. A teacher phoned me and we had a longer chat but there is no option to meet face to face.

My DCs school required C's in end of Y12 exams (or resits) to continue with A levels, but that was a private school.
OP are you dealing with state or private?

I agree with a PP about getting more involved with the school yourself - how can you really not know which exams your DD is taking and when? Also, parent evenings, reports etc would all indicate the level she is working at.

If she is set on A levels I agree that retaking the year would probably be best - either same subjects, different subject(s) or different qualifications altogether. A change of setting might help too.

But Alevels require a lot of work. My DCs were doing 2-3 hours most nights. Any evidence that your DD has been putting in the hours?

Given where she is at attainment wise at the moment, I don’t think that’s a sensible option.

Sounds about right. It is outstanding in all areas according to ofsted.

If she were to move elsewhere and then restart the same subjects, she and you would need to be very clear on what would be different this time. I wouldn't do this without clear visibility of change of approach. e.g. spending the summer doing some pre-work.

I found myself in a very similar situation myself. Brilliant GCSEs at a poor school, then went to a very academic sixth form for A-levels. Chemistry, maths, biology. Absolutely flunked my first year as I had not realised how different a-levels were to GCSEs, the content was so much more advanced, I was used to just turning up and naturally getting good grades. Not to mention the fact that the majority of the kids in my classes had spent the summer term at school starting the a-level syllabus...
Personally, I would say a completely fresh start at a different college and probably different subjects would be best. Those subjects are notoriously hard, I wouldn't chose them unless absolutely necessary tbh.
Trying to get grades up in the same place with the same subjects is really hard, and likely to really knock her confidence.

She is doing AQA boards. She has text books, past papers, etc. My older daughter who did well and has a masters is also willing to help her.

If she is happy to resit her A levels, then I would look at moving to a FE college, she is still eligible for a further two years funded education. Which whilst her current school could offer that, it doesn't sound like they would make it easy, so it might be best to go somewhere she could be more supported.

However seeing as you have said she doesn't want to go to Uni, it might be worth chatting to a FE college about other courses that will get her to her next steps, she might actually prefer a different route when she sees what the options are.

Whilst I think schools that treat children like this should be challenged, it may not be right for your daughter to stay on, so it will be about you sitting down with her and working out a plan that works.

Thanks for sharing. She is very upset and does want to do well.

Just a positive story, when I did my AS levels you did some in the January and some in the June. I’d got 9A* and 3As at GCSE but I got UUUE in my January ones. I’ve never panicked so much in my life. I had to redo them all in the summer and I did work my pants off.
ended up the following year with A*AAB in my A levels (biology chemistry maths and physics)

if they let her resist the year then she should do that or go and resit it somewhere else for a fresh start. I don’t think that taking low grades into A Level would be beneficial for her as they’d drag her overall grades down.

I think this is true or it certainly is for my son.

he cruised his GCSEs with little to no effort at the end. He definitely didn’t do as well as he could but had a decent set of results which he was pleased with especially as he didn’t really have to put any revision in at all (I think he was rather chuffed with himself) but I think he’s overestimated his own ability as he has taken that mantra into ALevels.

I’ve had to back off completely and he hasn’t done very well at all in his end of year mocks DDE, he has to resit the E also. i’m hoping that he now realises that he has to actually work and listen to what his tutors are telling him he needs to do. As he has discounted it up until now (tad arrogant) they have been telling him for months practice paper/questions practice papers/questions practice papers/questions. He’s done none. Yesterday he finally admitted he may have to start doing working on his practice questions

I am sure that your daughter has the ability but it may just not be her time to learn. I’m not sure it’s my sons. But they are going to have to suffer the consequences for their lack of effort, whether that be resitting a year (my nephew started yr12 again after failing 1st time and changed a couple of his subjects and went on to get really good ALevels last year). Or taking a different route and revisiting learning when they are ready

I’d move and restart if I was her, does she want to go to Uni? What’s her overall ambition?

Albeit it was 20 years ago but I did my A levels over 3 years because I did chemistry and physics and honestly I was dreadful at it, the jump from GCSE to A level was too hard, so I finished Biology in year 2 and at the same time started English Lang and Lit instead over 2 years and did really well. I essentially worked in all of my spare time to save up for University.

It sounds like a lot of pressure and not much support coming from the school.

In the grand scheme of things being a year behind when you start Uni is nothing and loads of people take gap years anyway.

You need to talk to the school - is she a. finding these subjects difficult or b. is she doing ok in class but didn’t revise for the exams.

Makes a material difference to what she does next.